Deadly Secrets: A Morganville Vampires Fanfiction
by ECaitlin
Summary: <html><head></head>Emma moved to Morganville because of her mother's pregnancy. When it turns out that she has a secret relation to someone very important in Morganville, things could get dangerous. In a place like Morganville, some secrets can be deadly.</html>
1. Chapter 1

I love the Morganville Vampires (which are, of course, owned by Rachel Caine). This is my first real fanfic, so I hope it's okay. :)

* * *

><p>Moving always sucks. Especially for a teenager. Say goodbye to your friends, the ones you've known all your life. Say goodbye to your house, your neighborhood, your school. Say goodbye to all the places where your greatest memories took place, like the time when you T.P'ed your teachers car.<p>

Even worse? Saying _hello_ to your new high school. The one where you don't have built in friends. Where you have to try to fit in with people who already have best friends, who've known each other since they were like, two.

The very worst part of moving, though, is moving to a place like Morganville.

Morganville is... weird. I've only been here for three days but I've seen enough to know that Morganville is _not_ normal. The people are always smiling and happy, yet none of them are friendly. The town itself looks like it was built in the 1800's and was never modernized, or remodeled. Creepiest part? No one is outside after dark.

I'm from New York city. You can't even open your window without hearing people all around you. But in Morganville? Nothing.

My mom sent me out to the store to pick up a jar of pickles. Pregnant people have weird cravings at weird times. Anyways, here I am outside at eleven o'clock at night, and no one is around. The farther I get away from my house, the creepier it gets. No one outside at 11:00 pm on a Friday night? No teenagers, drunks walking home from the bar?

I guess there probably is people out. My neighborhood isn't very large. It's not like I can see the main street from here, anyways. There's so few streetlights. By the time I get to the main street, I'm wishing I was back in New York. Even here, on the main street, there's barely any light. Walking down the street I see no stores open. Not one.

Wait. Finally! It's a coffee shop, Common Grounds. There's a bunch of people inside, most of them looking college age. I open the door and step in. It smells great inside. I could really use a coffee. The guy working the counter looks hippie-ish, and is probably in his early forties.

"What can I get you?" He asks. He smiles, but looks bored.

"Um, just a tripple-tripple, please." I replied, smiling slightly back. I may be from New York, but it didn't make me any less shy.

"Here or to go?" He asks, going to the back and getting a coffee mug.

"Actually, to go please. Also, sorry to bother you, but do you know if there's any stores open around here? My mother sent me to get her pickles..." I said. I blushed, realizing he probably didn't need to know why.

"There's a place open way down the street, but maybe you should wait until tomorrow to get what you need. Why don't you ask someone for a ride home. It's dangerous for a young girl to be walking around this late at night." He said. He passed me my cup and I took it, giving him the two dollars I owed him.

"I'm a city girl. I'm sure I'll be okay." I said, smiling before I turned away from the counter.

When I walked out the door of Common Grounds, someone stepped out behind me. I ignored it, thinking it was probably just someone heading back home, or to the TPU campus. After I got halfway down the block, though, I got a little frightened. They were still following. I didn't have my purse, so I had nothing to protect myself with.

Except for my shoes. My mother always say that a women in heels is a woman who means buisness. I prefer running shoes, but it's something she's forced on me since I was old enough to walk in them. I stopped and bent down, taking off my spiked red stilettos. If whoever was following me was going to hurt me, I had just given them the chance to catch up to me. But if they really were going to hurt me, they would chase me anyways, and I can't run in heels. At least this way I had a weapon.

I held the shoe in a way that would allow me to stab the heel into whoever was following me, if it was necessary. I turned around quickly and faced my stalker. He was tall, taller then me, probably even with both heels on. He had eyes that looked dark, probably brown, and matching dark hair that was cut short and spiked out a little. Overall, he was kind of cute, but a little on the skinny side.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to sound menacing. Kind of hard for a slender 17 year old girl, but I tried. I held the shoe in a threatening way.

"Woah, put down the weapon!" He said, his voice holding laughter.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, not putting the shoe down.

The boy shrugged. "Oliver told me to. He's kind of my boss." He said.

"I don't need someone following me. I can handle myself." I told him. I decided he probably wasn't going to attack me, and slipped my shoe back on.

"Look, this isn't exactly my idea of fun. I'm not the knight in shinning armer type." He said. He followed me down the street when I started walking again, though.

"I told you, I don't need your protection, okay?" I almost shouted. This was getting annoying. Where was that stupid store?

"Well, until you get home safely, I'm staying right here." He said.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I asked, getting really angry now.

"Jason Rosser." He said.

"Oh, you're really funny." I said, rolling my eyes.

"And you're really ungrateful. Is this how you treat every guy who practically saves your life?" Jason asked me.

"Excuse me? I'm fine." I said. I looked around. Still no store. And where the hell was I? I didn't remember going off the main road, yet I had. Common Grounds was nowhere in sight, and I couldn't figure out how to find which street my house was on.

Maybe if I cross the street? I thought. I jogged across the street, leaving Jason a little ways behind me. I looked around, reading the street signs.

"Lost, little girl?" A voice asked from somewhere around me. I turned in a circle, trying to find the source of the voice. Suddenly someone was standing in front of me.

It was another man, probably between 25 and 30. He was dressed weirdly, as if he was lost in time. He had a cruel smile on his face.

"Um, no I was just, uh-"

"Back off, man." Jason yelled, jogging across the street. He stepped infront of me.

"Jason Rosser. Standing up for the lady? Aren't you usually the one in _my_ shoes?" The man growled.

"In case you haven't heard, I don't actually hurt people. Unlike you. Now back off. This one has Oliver's temporary protection, for the night. She doesn't know the rules." Jason told him. I couldn't see his face, but from his tone, I could tell her was probably glaring at the guy.

"She might not know the rules, but you do, and I feel like reenforcing them, just to remind you." They guy said. Then something weird happened.

I'm not sure if I imagined it, which I probably did. It _was _a weird conversation. But I swear his teeth elongated. Into fangs.

Jason flashed something shiny on his wrist. "You sure you want to do that? Things are different. Oliver made promises, and you don't want to piss Oliver off, now do you?"

The guy hissed. "You're lucky this time, Rosser. It's just a matter of time before you lose that protection. When that time comes, you better pray I don't find you out past dark."

Then the guy disappeared. Jason turned towards me, looking livid.

"You-"

"What the hell was that?" I asked, feeling nauseous.

"Do you realize you just about got us killed? Don't you know anything? No more going outside after dark. Ever. Next time someone won't be there to hold you hand." He said angrily.

"I'm not a little girl. I can go out after dark." I told him. I started to walk away, but slowed down so he could tell I wanted him to walk with me.

No way I was walking alone after what just happened. Who was that guy? And what did Jason mean by 'Oliver's protection'? The most important question I had, though, was one I couldn't keep to myself.

"Did... did that guy, um... I know this sounds crazy but... I thought I saw his- Never mind." I said, deciding I was probably just going crazy.

"Spit it out." He said. He didn't sound friendly anymore. Just angry.

Well, if what he said was true, then I guess he deserves to be angry. I mean, I did just about get us killed.

"I thought I saw... fangs." I said quietly. "Go ahead, take me away to the loony-bin."

"Yeah, they do that sometimes. Flash the fangs. Usually it's just to intimidate. Sometimes it's not." He said casually.

"Wait, what?" I replied, oh so intelligently.

"The vampires. Sometimes they, you know, show off the teeth. Whenever they feel like it. Though usually they stay hidden. Like Oliver's." Jason said. He turned on some street that's name I didn't know. Suddenly we were standing infront of a small store on the main street.

"Apparently I'm not the crazy one." I replied, stepping inside the store and not waiting for crazy Jason to follow.

I looked around the store, found pickles, and brought them up to the counter. When I got there, there was a large man standing there, around Oliver's age, though not hippie-ish and friendly.

"This it? You came all the way out here at night for this?" The guy asked, looking at me as if I was crazy.

"Yes, sir. Um, I was wondering if you had a phone I could use? I just want to call my mother to get her to pick me up. Someone's been following me and I don't feel comfortable walking home." I told him.

I felt a twinge of guilt. I mean, Jason hadn't really done anything wrong. You can't help it if you're crazy and believe in vampires, right? But that didn't mean I wanted him to follow me home, if I could even _find_ home.

The man handed me the phone. "Don't make a habit out of it." He said, looking surely.

"I won't."

Mom answered and said she'd be there in a few minutes. She sounded grumpy too. She didn't want to have to leave the house, but her boyfriend, Darell, was already drunk so it wasn't like he could pick me up. Well, he could, it wouldn't be the first time he's drove me while intoxicated, but after the accident mom put her foot down.

I walked to the door so I could see when my mother pulled up. Jason was still standing there, looking annoyed and bored. I should probably tell him that I don't need him to wait for me, but somehow I can't go out and talk to him. I feel as though I've betrayed him or something. Weird, right? I mean, I don't owe this guy anything. Well, maybe my life, if that guy had a gun or something. Other than that, though, nothing. Yet for some reason I felt bad for thinking he's crazy.

I opened the door and the clerk yelled out to me.

"You sure you want to do that? Isn't it best that you wait for your mom to come pick you up?" He asked. I gave him a small smile.

"I'll be okay." I replied.

"Crazy kids. Getting themselves killed." He muttered as I walked out. What the hell?

"What took you so long?" Jason asked.

"I um... I called my mom. To come pick me up." I replied, not meeting his eyes.

"Good. It's not my job to watch after dumb asses who go outside after dark." He said.

"At least I'm not some crazy freak who believes in vampires!" I yelled, outraged. How dare he insult me? He doesn't even _know_ me.

For a second Jason's eyes darkened. "You're right. I am a freak. And you're on your own." He said, and started to walk away. He got three steps away from me when a car, and old Ford Volkswagen, swerved and almost hit him. "What the fuck?"

Darell. Mom _promised_ she wouldn't let him pick me up anymore.

"Watch where you're driving, asshole." Jason yelled, walking towards the car.

"Why don't you watch your mouth, you little shit, before I watch it for you?" Darell called after him, stepping out of the car. His words slurred and he stumbled a little when he walked.

Still, a drunk Darell wasn't someone you wanted to fight with.

"Where's mom?" I asked, stepping between Darell and Jason. They still glared at each other, though.

"The lazy bitch didn't want to get up. So I get the pleasure of driving your ass home." He said. He stepped forward and grabbed my arm, a little too hard. "Get in the fucking car."

"What's your problem?" Jason asked, stepping towards Darell and I.

"Just ignore him Darell. Let's go home, okay?" I shot Jason a pleading look, hoping he would just drop it. He did, but he kept his eyes on Darell's hold on my arm.

We drove away with Jason staring after the car.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Darell and I got home I was too tired to stay up. I decided to just go straight to bed. Mom called up after me, but I ignored her. That was payback for the finger-shapped bruises on my arm from Darrel. What a jackass. Mom thought that after getting pregnant he would drink less. Yeah, well, she sure was wrong.

Falling asleep was easy. I was so tired. Yet staying asleep, not so easy. My dreams were plagued with evil things with fangs that hid in dark places. I woke up three or four times in the middle of the night, panting. Waking up wasn't anymore fun, though. The new house was big, and kind of creepy. Back in New York we lived in a nice apartment not far from Central Park. I loved it. I loved the fact that if I had to get a drink in the middle of the night, I only had to go down the hall. Here I had to go down the big, creaky staircase.

I know, what kind of 17 year old girl is scared of going downstairs at night. Well, I'm not ashamed to admit that I freaked out and ran fast down the stairs and flicked the lights in the kitchen on as fast as I could.

There was still a bunch of boxes to be unpacked, but mom had already unpacked the coffee mugs. I grabbed one and made a pot. The kitchen was already messy, somehow. There was beer bottles everywhere. One had spilt all over the floor. The dishes weren't done, and there was half eaten food in plates all over the counter.

The clock on the microwave said it was 4:38 am. I guess this probably isn't the time people usually clean up their houses, but I couldn't sleep anyways. Plus, if I didn't do it, chances are no one would. After doing the dishes and throwing the beer bottles out, I sat down and enjoyed my coffee.

A sudden knock at the door made me jump and alost spill my drink. Another thing that doesn't usually happen at four in the morning: people stopping by for random visits.

I tiptoed to the front door and looked out the peephole, trying to figure out what crazy person would be coming by at this hour.

It was a girl. A goth girl. She wore a lot of eyeliner, which I sometimes like to do, though I wasn't seriously goth, it just made my blue eyes stand out more. This girl was _seriously_ goth though. Her tights even had skulls on them.

"Quick, open the door! Please!" She begged. And for some weird reason, I obeyed.

She ran in breathlessly just as something, or someone, appeared on my front step behind her.

"Shut it, shut it!" She shouted, pushing me out of the way and slamming the door. When it was closed she sagged against it.

"Oh, my god. Thank you so much. You just saved me life!" She said, looking extremely thankful. "I guess I deserve it, going outside alone after dark, even in my car. Sorry to bother you, but your light was the only one on, and, you know, vampries."

"Excuse me?" I asked, staring at the girl. Is this town full of crazy people, or is it only the ones that I choose to talk to?

"Random vamp. I don't know who he is, but he's been following me for a while. I couldn't lose him, so I ran up to your door. " She said. Then she blushed. "You don't mind if I stay here for a bit, do you?"

I ignored her question. "Vampires?" I asked, looking skeptical. "Is this some practical joke? You're the second person to bring up the word vampires tonight."

The girl looked at me closely. "Oh, shit. You're not from here, are you?" She said, looking suddenly shocked. "You probably think I'm insane."

"A little bit." I admitted. "No offence."

"None taken. Do you happen to have any coffee? And do you mind if I stay here, just until dawn?" She asked. She didn't wait for an answer, just headed straight to the kitchen.

"How did you know where the kitchen is?" I asked, following her. "And what's your name? If you're going to just walk around my house I think I might as well know it."

"My house is exactly like this one. There's a couple of them all over the city. They're called founder's houses." She said. She sat down at the small table and waited, looking like she was expecting something. "And I'm Eve, by the way."

"Emma." I said. Then remembered what she was waiting for. "What do you take in your coffee?"

"Just black." She said, with a huge smile. Figures.

"So, vampires, huh?" I asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this. From what I could tell, Eve was a normal, yet goth, girl. She didn't _seem_ insane, completely.

"I know you probably think I'm crazy, but come on. You saw that guy just _appear_ on your step, right? I didn't make that up. They're real." She looked me straight in the eye. "And they run this town, so you better be careful."

Suddenly, I started to believe, just a little bit. I know, crazy, right? But after the guy with the fangs, and then the guy who was following Eve practically teleporting onto my door step? Those things couldn't be a coincidence.

"If... if vampires are real, and they really... kill, you know, people, then why were you outside after dark?"

Eve's smile turned down a notch or two. "I was looking for my brother. I haven't seen him in a few days, I'm getting worried." She said, looking down. "I'd ask you if you've seen him, but you look like a nice girl. Definitely not the kind of person who would hang around with my brother."

"I hope you find him. " I told her, and I meant it. Before Darell, my mom dated this one guy, Joe. He was creepy, maybe not as creepy as Darell, but he liked to just up and take off all the time. One time mom went with him. I was thirteen, and my mom was gone for two weeks. I knew what it was like to be missing a family member, temporarily.

"Me, too. He's got a bad rep, but he's... he's changed." Eve said with a sigh. "By the way, this is great coffee. Seriously. You should apply at Common Grounds, they need a new barista after I quit. It's not bad, just stay clear of the boss. Oliver may seem nice, but, he's kind of a bad ass, emphasis on the 'ass' part."

"I'll think about it." I said, with a smile. Then my smile faded. "But... isn't Oliver- I mean, someone told me he was a, you know... vampire."

"Totally. That's why I said avoid him. Common Grounds is awesome, the best job I ever had. Only quit because of... conflicts with the boss." Eve said with a small wink.

Eve staid, but only for a little while longer. When the sun came up, she was gone. She had promised to put in a good word with Oliver for me, though, if I wanted it. I said I did. I needed a job, money of my own.


	3. Chapter 3

School the next day was no different from school the day before. I'd only been at this school for two days, yet you'd think someone would have tried to talk to me, right? Wrong. I was just the new girl, someone everyone looked at but didn't talk to. In a town this small everyone notices the new girl. Some of my teachers even called me New Girl.

After school I headed, alone, towards Common Grounds. I walked up to counter and waited for Oliver to finish making someone elses drink.

"Glad to see you made it home alright last night." He said, smiling. He walked towards the coffee machine and got my drink, without even asking my order. I handed him over my money.

"Thanks. I wasn't actually here for coffee, though. Well, not _just_ coffee. Um, Eve said she'd call you about getting me a job, perhaps?" I said, a little nervous.

Oliver _looked_ human. Long, graying hair pulled back in a ponytail, fadded jeans, teeth regulation lenghth. Nothing vampiric about him, except maybe the coldness in his eyes.

"She mentioned you. Emma, right? Eve was my best employee. She said you make a good cup, and I need a new barista. You can start right now. Just a warning, I don't like slackers." He said, handed me and apron, and motioned for me to move behind the counter.

"Uh, yes, sir. No slacking. Promise." I said and quickly moved behind the counter.

"You're here till eleven. Usually you won't start so early, but your cooworkers sick today." He said.

Eleven? "Okay. I've got this." I said, and put a fake smile on my face.

My first costumer was a pretty, pissed off looking brunette.

"Low fat, skimmed milk espresso." She said.

"On it." I said. I quickly punched her order into the machine. Oliver made her drink, of course. The espresso machine was something I wasn't going to have to learn to use. It didn't look that complicated.

"Here you go." I said, giving her her drink and taking her money. I gave her the change as she looked over my outfit under the apron.

"Cute dress. Where's it from?" She asked.

Startled by her compliment, I replied. "A little vintage store in New York."

She nodded and walked towards two other girls, both also pretty and also pissed-off looking. The prettiest one walked over to a table where another group of girls were sitting. She grabbed the back of one of the girls chairs and pulled it backwards, knocking the girl out of her seat.

"Excuse me!" I called, getting out from behind the counter and walking towards them. "You can't just do that."

"Yes, I can, actually. And who are you to tell me I can't?" She replied, sneering at me.

"I um... I work here." I told her, my voice shaking a little. I wasn't good at confrontation, but she couldn't just _do_ that. "There's empty seats. Find somewhere else to sit."

"I want this table." She said, plopping herself down in the chair. "You going to stop me?"

"No, she's not. But I am." Said Olivers voice from behind me. I turned to see him glaring at her, his eyes suddenly the colour of pure ice. When he was mad like this, it was kind of easier to picture him as a blood sucking creature of the night. "Monica, I've told you a million times that this is _my_ store. You don't own it."

The girl, Monica, paled. Then she turned towards me and glared. "Whatever. I think we'll take our drinks somewhere else." She said, and walked out.

Oliver turned towards me, his eyes back to their original blue colour. "Monica thinks she's the princess of everything." He said. "If she does that again, you let her know that I don't appreciate that in my store. She'll get the hint."

I nodded and returned to the counter. I took a lot more orders before I got my first break. Common Grounds was a very busy coffee shop. After a small coffee break I returned to my counter. Eve walked in, followed by another girl, smaller than her and probably a year or two younger.

Eve bounced up to the counter. She was still dressed in goth clothes. "You got the job!" She said excitedly. I think she was more excited than I was. "This is Claire, by the way. Claire, Emma, Emma, Claire."

"Hi." I replied. "What can I get you guys?"

"One coffee, black, and a hot chocolate for little Claire here." She said, giving me a big smile.

"How're you adjusting?" Claire asked. I frowned at her in response while I made her hot chocolate.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You know," She said, mimming fangs with her fingers. "With that. I was new here once too. It's kind of hard to get used to. And thanks, by the way, for helping Eve out last night."

Everyone in this town and vampires! What is it with them? "I'm not sure if I'm completely convinced yet." I replied, handing them their drinks. "But maybe I'm starting to come around."

I turned and looked at Oliver, who was paying attention to something else. His eyes had definitely changed colour. Not normal.

"You'll get used to it." Claire said while grabbing her hot chocolate.

"Thanks." I said. I took their money and they headed towards an unoccupied table.

Eventually Eve and Claire left. By Ten o'clock barely anyone was at Common Grounds. Just a few people finishing their drinks. Everyone who left after dark had either been in big groups heading back to the college, or were quickly running into their cars. It was super creepy.

Five minutes from the end of my shift, Jason walked in. He didn't look in my direction, just sat down at one of the tables linning the wall. Eventually Oliver came out from his office in the back room, or whatever it was. I assumed it was an office. He headed towards Jason's table and sat down. By this point everyone else had cleared out.

I was just finishing cleaning the counter and the coffee mugs, then heading out. I was kind of curious about what they were talking about, though. I slowed down my working and deliberately took about two minutes to clean one cup. I couldn't hear a thing, though. I gave up trying to eavesdrop and hung up my apron.

I wanted to thank Oliver for the job, but I didn't want to interupt them, so I just called a soft goodbye as I opened the door to leave.

"Emma, hold on a second." Oliver called. He motioned for me to come over. "I don't see any cars outfront. No one coming to pick you up?"

"I, um, didn't want to bother my mother." I replied, looking down. What the real problem was was that I didn't want stupid Darell to come pick me up instead. "I don't mind walking."

"Yes, but _I_ mind you walking. As my employee it's my duty to see that you get home safe." He said.

"Really, it's no trouble." I told him. Jason didn't meet my eyes this whole time. He just stared blankly at the wall behind Oliver's head.

And then Oliver did something that almost gave me a heartattack. He stood up faster than any normal person should have been able to do. His teeth had elongated, and his eyes went the colour of ice, the pupils very dialated.

I screamed and backed up towards the counter, grabbed the chair nearest to me and held it out in front of me. It was the only thing close enough that could be considered a weapon.

Jason had finally looked up and was staring at me as if he wanted to come stand in front of me, but had decided that it wasn't a good idea.

"I apologize for the theatrics." Oliver said, his face going back to normal. "Jason told me you didn't believe him, so I thought it was my job to prove to you that vampires _do_ exist."

I kept the chair up, still pointing it at Oliver. No way was I putting down the only weapon I had.

"Emma, you can put the chair down." Oliver said, walking towards me.

"No way. Not a chance. Unless you promise that what you just did a second ago won't happen ever again." I replied. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to order around a freaking _vampire_ but I couldn't help it.

"As long as you behave I promise to not do that to you again. If you happen to misbehave, though, I can't keep that promise." He said, looking as sincere as he was probably capable of. "Jason can drive you home tonight."

Jason stood up, looking angry. He didn't object, though.

"I'll need you in at five tomorrow." Oliver called as I walked out the door.

I followed Jason to a black, dark tinted car. As I relaxed into the seat I realized my whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Jason pulled out of the parking spot and headed down the main street. I thought about telling him that I didn't live in this direction, but suddenly my body didn't want to cooperate and form the words.

After minutes of silence Jason pulled the car into the driveway of a small, weathered looking house. "W-where are we?" I asked quietly.

"Okay, when I get the front door open, I want you to open your car door and run as fast as you can inside. Alright? No stopping for any reason. Don't look right or left, just run." He said, starteling me. "Got it?"

He didn't wait for answer. He just opened his door, slammed it and hurried up the steps. The second the door was open I bolted out of the car and inside. When I made it over the thresh hold Jason slammed the door.

"Go sit on the couch, I'll be there in a minute." Jason said, dissapearing somewhere.

I stood in the hallway, unmoving. Why did we have to run? Someone was chasing us. Someone was trying to kill us. A vampire. Oh, my god. We were just about killed by a _vampire_. That's why Jason was so strange about getting from the car to the house. _Oh, my god!_

I leaned against the door and slid to the floor. I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to stop the shaking. People dont' get chased by vampires. Vampires don't exist. But they _do_. Oliver is a vampire. That guy from last night is a vampire. And he said... oh, god. He said that Jason was usually in his shoes.

Jason is a fucking _vampire_ and I'm alone with him in a house!


	4. Chapter 4

I stood up quickly and looked around. Nothing to be used as a weapon. I was just about to reach for the door handle when Jason returned. He was carrying a plate with... a burger on it? And a drink.

"What are you doing?" He yelled. He quickly put the food and drink down and rushed at me. Instictively I curled my hand into a fist and punched him right in the jaw. He staggered backwards, his face changing into a mask of anger.

"What the hell was that for?" He asked,sounding even angrier than he looked.

"Stay away from me!" I screamed at him.

"Me?" He yelled. "You're the one punching people!"

"You're the _vampire_!" I shouted right back at him.

Jason looked stunned for a minute, then started laughing. It was a weird sound, like the sound of someone who hasn't laughed in a while finally doing it. Almost as if he had forgotten how to, and was just remember how to do it again.

"It's not funny!" I cried. I was in a house with a vampire, and he was laughing at me! I can't take this. I really can't. I slid to the floor again, putting my head in my hands. "Please, just... just leave me alone."

"Wait. Emma. I'm not a vampire. Alright? I promise." Jason said, bending down in front of me. He lightly touched my arm, trying to pull it away from my face. I looked up at him. "Trust me."

I would be such an idiot if he was lying and I fell for it. Yet for some reason I believed him. I nodded slowly and stood up.

"Come on. You need something to eat, and some sugar in your system. Sit." He ordered, putting me on the couch.

He handed me the food and drink. I slowly took a sip of the drink, which turned out to be either Coke of Pepsi. Then I took a small, tentive bite of the burger. It was good.

"If your not a, um, vampire, then why did that guy from last night say that usually you were in his shoes?" I asked.

The kindness I'd seen in Jason dissapeared.

"That's none of your buisness. Alright? After everything I've done for you, I can't believe you'd even accuse me of that." He said angrily. "I'm not your fucking knight in shining armer, alright? You need to stop being such a little damsel in distress and learn to take care of yourself. I'm sick of having to do it for you. I'm not a nice guy, okay? I've got a bad repuation and I didn't get it for protect people like you."

"You know what? You really are an asshole. Don't worry. You don't need to help me anymore." I said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked. He stood up aswell.

"Home, obviously." I said angrily. I headed towards the door. Jason reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Ouch!" I cried. I hadn't meant to, but he'd grabbed the arm with the bruises from Darell on them.

Jason immediately let go. He looked down at my arm. "Are those from that asshole last night?"

"It's none of your buisness where they're from. Why does it matter to you, anyways?" I asked while glaring at him.

"Trust me, it really doesn't matter to me at all." He said, glaring right back.

"Whatever." I said, and grabbed the doorhandle.

"You can't leave." Jason said quickly. He moved so that he covered the door.

"Why the hell not?"

"Why do you think we had to run from the car to the house? That vampire from last night is following us. He's waiting for you. Oliver says that there is something about you that he wants, god knows what, and he's going to keep trying to get you if you keep going out after dark." Jason replied. "Oliver can't afford to show interest in your safety, weither he's your employer or not. It would just piss this guy off more. Yet Olive _does_ want you safe. That's why I'm stuck babysitting your ass."

"You're not stuck doing anything. I'm not your responsibility." I told him. Still, if that guy is outside, I can't exactly leave. I went and sat back down on Jason's couch.

I turned towards the window behind the couch and slowly opened the curtain a bit. And jumped about ten feet in the air. The scream that came out of my mouth was probably the loudest one I've ever uttered.

Standing right in front of the window, face to face with me, was the vampire who wanted to kill me. He was scarier than Oliver, because even though Oliver vamped out on me, he didn't look like he wanted to _eat_ me. This vampire had a cruel, hungry smile one his face, one that dug into his lower lips.

I jumped off the couch and backed up against the wall as far as I could go. Jason ran towards me and instantly checked me over to make sure I was okay. When he figured I was, he turned around and faced what had scared me. Yet he was gone. The only thing left was a message written on the window in some substance.

'She'll be mine.'

"What the fuck just happened?"Jason asked, going closer to the window. He pulled it open all the way and looked around. Nothing was there.

"He was- he was there. I swear." I said, my voice shaking.

"I know." Jason said, and gentely grabbed my shoulders and steered me towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked him quitely. I turned and looked behind us at the door. "And is that really going to keep him out?"

"He can't come in uninvited. And we're going to my room."

Suddenly my eyes got wide. Jason blushed, but then his expression changed to one of annoyance. "Don't flatter yourself. We're going up there so he can't keep playing tricks on you like that. You're really not my type." He told me.

Ouch. "Everytime I start to think you're a nice guy you turn around and say things like that." I said angrily.

"I told you, I'm not a nice guy, so don't ever think I am." He said.

"Why do you do that?" I asked him.

"What?"

"Pretend to be an asshole?"

"I'm not pretending." Jason said angrily.

"Sure you're not." I replied.

"Do you want to walk all the way home in the middle of the fucking night with that guy out there?" He asked me.

"Maybe you're right." I said, looking down. "Sorry for thinking there's a good side in everyone. You truly are as mean as you say you are."

"And you're really stupid if you actually believe there's good in everyone. Thinking like that will get you killed in Morganville. Here, everyone is your enemy until they prove you otherwise." Jason said, while opening the door to his room.

His room was... well... creepy. Not that there was anything creepy in it, it's just that it looked like no ones ever lived here. Just a bed. Nothing else. No pictures, decorations, anything.

"Does anyone actually _live _here?" I asked, looking around. There was a small closet on the wall nearest the door, and I bet there wasn't anything in that, either. I was too afraid to ask, though.

"Obviously." Jason said in a tone that implied I was stupid.

"Where's all your stuff? Pictures of family? Friends?" I asked him.

"Not close with my family. Friends aren't something you have when you're like me."

"And what are you like, exactly, Jason?" I asked him while walking over to his bed and siting down.

"The kind of guy who has things to do, so why don't you go to sleep so I can get them done without you pestering me?" He said, then shut off the light and walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning feeling like crap. Sleeping in jeans is never a comfortable idea. I got out of bed and went downstairs. Jason was nowhere to be seen. There was just a note on the living room table.

Gone to see Oliver. -J

That was it. No, "hope you had a good sleep!" or anything like that. Jason was a weird guy. Nice for one minute, rude for the next couple hours. I left his house and headed towards my own. Eventually, after what felt like a year of walking, I found my house. For a town so small, Morganville sure had a confusing layout.

When I walked in the front door, no one was home. There was no note at all here. No one had even missed me. The kitchen was a mess again, more beer bottles were piled up on the counter. There was a broken plate in the living room.

After cleaning up the mess I went upstairs. I loved my room. It was the biggest in the house, and had two doors of it's own. There was even a fireplace in it. I didn't have much stuff to fill it with, though. Just the bed, my bookshelf, and my clothing. All my posters, pictures, and knick knacks were still packed. Even after just moving my room had more personal character than Jason's.

I grabbed a dress out of my closer, red, with a black belt at the waist. I loved the way it looked against my blonde hair and pale skin. After a quick shower I headed out to Common Grounds. My shift started in half an hour and I wanted a coffee first.

When I got to Common Grounds, I was surprised. There was a large sign in the window that said, "Closed for the day". The shutters were closed and I couldn't see inside. There was another, smaller note beneath the first one. "Employees enter through back".

Huh?

I'd never been in the back of Common Grounds. Not even to get extra coffee beans. Oliver was always right there to get it. Yet the note had to of been for me. I was pretty sure I was the only person schedualed to work today. I hadn't even actually _met_ my cooworker yet.

I walked around the building and found the back door. It was locked. I decided to knock. If I was expected to be here and didn't show up, Oliver would probably fire me. Or yell at me. Or worse.

"Finally." Jason said, answering the door. He ushered me inside.

"Hey." I said, feeling awkward.

"Look, Emma, we're not friends, okay? The only reason we even talk to each other is because those are my orders from Oliver. Let's not pretend like it's anything different." He said, not sounding angry, just bored.

I didn't reply. That stung . I knew that Jason didn't actually _like_ me. That was obvious. But to hear someone so bluntly say that they didn't want anything to do with you, but were forced to? Well, that hurt.

"Emma. You're here. We have a lot to do today. Jason, you can leave. Just be sure to be back in time." Oliver told him. He waved his hand in dismissal. Jason's whole body tensed, but he obeyed. I bet he didn't like being ordered around. "And trust me, you don't want to be late. It would be _very _ unfortunate for you."

Once Jason was gone, I turned to face Oliver. We were in a large room. I didn't know there was this much space behind Common Grounds. Weirdly enough, though, there wasn't coffee supplies back here. Or torture instruments. What I _did_ see was a pale blue coloured dress suit and a bunch of hair and make-up products.

"What's going on?" I asked. Then, just in case, added a "sir".

"Well, you see, I have a little plan. It involves you, of course, and the founder of Morganville. That's really all you need to know." He said, then ussured me over to the only chair in the room. "What I'm going to ask is that you obey what I say. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Alright, I need you to listen carefully. After we're finished here, you're going to go out back and get into the car there. Jason will be driving. You guys are going to drive around for about ten minutes, then arrive at founders square. After that, I want you to enter the town hall. Once there, a bunch of people should bring you to a large room where I will be seated. I want you to just come over to me, sit down, and be quite." He said slowly, making sure I understood. "Clear?"

"Yes. I guess if I ask why I won't get an answer?"

"Definitely not." Oliver said, with a small smile. "Let's get started."

Apparently, Oliver wanted to play make-over with me. He said it wasn't going to be any permanant changes, he just needed me to dress up for the big meeting. First I had to dress in the dress suit. It was a nice shade that complimented my eyes, but it felt stiff and stuffy. Too proffesional. Then Oliver did my make up. When I looked in the mirror, not much had changed, but I looked older and maybe slightly less dramatic than I usually did with the eyeliner. I looked at least twenty-five. Then came the hair. Oliver spent the longest amount of time on the hair. He put it up in some elaborate up-do that reminded me of something a queen would do with her hair.

"What do you think?" Oliver asked when he was finished.

"I look... like a cross between a lawyer and the queen. Though much younger." I replied.

"You're right." Oliver said, after taking a long look at his finished product. "I have to get going. You can go meet Jason now. Oh, and Emma. I forgot to mention that a few people might mistake you for someone else. Do not correct them. Except for maybe Jason."

I nodded, confused. Oliver left very quickly. I walked out the back door to see silver car. Jason was seated as the driver. I got in on the passenger side and waited for him to take off. He did, right away, without even looking at me.

Once he did look at me, though, his eyes bulged out of his head. "Amelie! I was supposed to be meeting someone for Oliver. What are you doing here?" He asked. He looked suddenly nervouse.

"What are you talking about?"I asked him. This was a weird day.

"Emma?" He said, looking even more shocked. He took a good look at me. "It really is you. Holy shit. You look just like her. Except for the eyes. Your's are darker blue."

"Like who? Amelie? Who is she?"

"Just the most important vampire alive, depending on who you ask. Also, the founder of Morganville. I don't see why he'd dress you up like that and not tell you who she is." Jason said, shaking his head.

I paled a little. "Why would he want me to dress up exactly like some powerful vampire woman?" I asked, feeling suddenly frightened. I couldn't see how this could be a positive thing.

"Who knows? Guess you'll find out." He said, and then ignored me for the rest of the ride.

When we arrived in Founders square, I was amazed. It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. It looked like something out of old London. Or maybe France.

"Oh, my god. This place is... beautiful." I said, smiling.

"Don't get too attached. You're not really supposed to be here. This is more a place for the vampires than the humans." Jason said. He pulled up infront of the biggest building in the square. "Here we are. The place where you may possibly die."

"Screw off." I said angrily, and left the car. I walked up the steps and into the building. The second I entered, I was greeted by a tall, young man. He was probably somewhere in his early twenties. He was cute.

"Amelie?" He asked. His voice was cute too. Deep and sexy and mature. I smiled at him.

"I'm supposed to meet Oliver?" I asked, hoping he would lead me to where I was supposed to go.

"Weren't you just... in-nevermind. I must be losing it." He said, and led me down a hallways.

Oliver's point of veiw.

"So, where is your new pet, Oliver?" Amelie asked me. She looked cool and collected, as always.

"She'll be here." I replied just as cooly. With Amelie and I, it was always about your game face. The first one to drop it lost.

"I don't know why you insisted on her being in the meeting. You know we don't allow favorites in just because we favor them." Amelia said, looking annoyed and bored.

"Claire has been in these meetings before." I pointed out.

"Claire is a valuable asset, Oliver. You know that without here our town would have fallen apart." She said with a slight flash of anger.

"I refuse to believe that we were all saved by one little human. If it hadn't been for her we wouldn't have all lost our memories in the first place." I repeated, anger also in my words. "Plus, she's very important."

Just as I finished speaking, Emma walked in, accompanied by Richard Morrel.

"Ah, here she is now. Amelia, meet Emma. Emma,meet Amelie." I said, standing up.

Richard looked between Emma and Amelie, confused. Emma just did as I told her and came to sit in the seat beside mine.

"It's so nice to have you both finally meet." I said, and almost laughed out loud at the exression on Amelie's face.

Emma's POV

The similarities between Amelia and myself were scary. Jason was right, though. The eyes were different. Hers were a lighter blue, and held a coolness in them that I never had in mine. Everyone in the room seemed to be in some sort of stage of shock, except for Oliver. He had a pleasant smile on his face.

"What is the meaning of this, Oliver?" Amelie asked. She looked angry now. "This isn't possible."

"You'd think, yet here she is." He said smugly. He looked like he was enjoying Amelie's shock.

Amelie came to stand beside me and looked me up and down. Then she ordered one of her gaurds to check me. I expected someone to search me for a weapon or something. Instead, I had a large man come over and sniff me.

The man shook his head. "Not a vampire, either. So there's not possibility of her being some sort of offspring of Bishop's. Yet she somehow must be related to me." Amelie said while shaking her head. "Oliver, you're dismissed. Same for you, Richard."

Oliver looked angry all of a sudden. "What do you mean I'm dismissed?" He said, the anger on his face reflecting in his voice.

"Well, it's obvious that Emma and I need to have a talk. Get to the bottom of things." Amelie said, and used the same shooing motion on Oliver that he had earlier used on Jason.

Oliver looked as if he was going to protest but decided it was a lost cause. When Oliver and Richard, the cute guy who escorted me in, were gone, it was only Amelie, a few large men standing a few feet away, and me left in the room. It was definitely scary.

"Why are you here, in Morganville, Emma?" She asked, which was not what I expected. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that.

"Um, I don't really, um, know. My mother wanted to move away from the excitment in New York. She wanted a place to raise her soon-to-be-child that was calm. And she had attented TPU for a year. Full scholarship." I replied. "She liked it here, apparently. She said she missed it and decided to move here, I guess."

"That's quite unfortunate." She said casually.

"W-why is that?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I am the most important vampire. Ever. Do you know how hard it is for someone to raise a hand against me, or even just a finger? Virtually impossible. Yet you, you are fragile. Break-able." She said, sending a chill up my back. "The second anyone finds out that you have some sort of connection to me, family wise, things will get _very_ bad for you. They might try to use you against me. Hurt you, thinking it would affect me."

She said that last part as if it was ubsurd.

"Then what do we do?" I asked. Amelie was frightening. More so than Oliver all vamped out, or the vampire who was stalking me last night. Amelie was cool, collected, yet she radiating power in a way that was move threatening than Oliver or the other vampires theatrical displays.

"Well, you better find a way to make sure Oliver keeps his mouth shut. And anyone else who knows about this unfortunate situation. Such as Richard. I suggest doing as Oliver says, for the time being. We'll find a suitable solution for this situation soon enough." Amelie said. It was freaky hearing someone talk to calmly about keeping me from getting _killed_.

"What kind of connection _do _ I have with you?" I wanted to know. She was a vampire, and probably had been for a very long time. She said so herself that it was impossible for me to be related to her, yet the similarities in the looks was shocking.

"That is something I will leave you to figure out. If you find the proper answer, I would like for you to report back to me. If not, then I request that you keep your distance from me." She said, looking me straight in the eye and making me back up a step. "Being seen together could make people notice you enough to put the peices together, which I'm sure you don't want."

"No, ma'am." I said quietly.

"Good. You're free to go." She said, and waved me away as well.


	6. Chapter 6

I left Amelie out the same door that Oliver and Richard had exited. Walking down the hallways, I searched for Richard. Eventually I found my way to the main room, where a secratary was sitting behind a desk.

"Do you happen to know where Richard is?" I asked.

The woman looked up, confused. Then her face showed recognition and she sputtered nervously. "R-right through that door, ma'am." She told me, then smiled.

I went to the door that she pointed to and knocked. "Come in." Came Richard's voice.

I entered the room and sat down in the only seat available. The name plate on his desk read 'Mayor Morrell'.

"Mayor, huh? Aren't you a little young for that?" I asked.

The calm expression that had been on his face when I entered disappeared. "It's a long story, but yes, I suppose I am a little young to be mayor." He said, a sad expression coming over his face. "If you don't mind me asking, who _are_ you?"

"My name's Emma. Emma Rainn." I told him, and extended my hand. He took it in his large hand and shook.

"It's kind of freaky, you know that?" Richard told me, searching my face. "Almost completely similar. Except you look a little younger. And the eyes, they're different."

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I was told that if anyone found out, things might get dangerous for me and I wanted to ask you-"

"Not to mention it to anyone? No problem. One good thing about growing-up in Morganville is taht you know how to keep a secret. Secrets can be deadly in Morganville." He said with a slight smile.

"One other thing. Do you have a bathroom in this building? I can't leave looking like this. One that preferably allows me to leave without the secretary out there seeing me?"

"There's a bathroom out this door to the left. There should be a window big enough for you to climb through. That's the only way I can see you leaving without her knowing." He told me.

I stood up and headed out the door. "Thanks." I said to Richard with a smile on my face. I was definitely going to be coming up with fake reasons to see the mayor. He was just too cute.

After pulling down my hair and running my hands through it, making it go back to it's slightly wavy state, I wiped my face clean of the makeup. Then I took off my shoes. There was no way I was going to be able to climb through a window in those heels. The window its self was located right above the sinks. I guess I would be climbing onto those.

I put the shoes in the trash can, not wanting to leave anything behind, and pulled myself up on top of the first sink. Then I reached up, opened the window as far as I could, and popped off the screen. Next, I grabbed the ledge. This was the hard part. Pulling myself up, I managed swing my legs out the window, so that I was sitting on the ledge.

One thing Richard hadn't mentioned: it was a long way down. I looked around for anything to soften the fall, but there was nothing.

"Are you going to sit up there all night?" Came a voice from below. When did Jason get there? He was leaning against a tree, staring up at me. I quickly made sure that he couldn't see anything up the skirt I was wearing.

"What's it to you?" I asked, feeling defiant. I was not going to let him bully me any longer. "I'll jump when I'm good and ready."

"Let's hope that happens soon. I've got places to go and we need to get you home so I can do that." Jason started walking towards where I was while talking. "Jump."

"Is this some sort of trust exercise? There's no way I'm going to try that with you." I told him.

"Suit yourself. I just wanted to get us out of here more quickly. Go ahead, then. Jump. I'll stand back here." He said, starting to walk away.

I bit my lip, thinking. "Wait." I called. He turned around. "If you drop me, I will kill you."

Jason smiled. "I'd like to see you try. Okay, I'm ready when you are." He said, outstretching his arms, waiting to catch me.

I slid forwards so that only my arms were holding me on the window sill. Then I quickly let go, closing my eyes quickly. Within seconds Jason's arms were around me, and my feet were hitting the ground. I hit hard, but not nearly as hard as I would have it Jason hadn't been there.

"Thanks." I said. I noticed Jason's arms were still around me. Then he let go and pushed me gently away from him. He turned and headed towards the front of the City Hall building. The car was still out there. He climbed in, and I followed.

"So, what're we doing now?" I asked as we drove out of the founders square.

"Well, first you go home and change out of the outfit. Then you can do whatever the hell you want." He said without looking at me.

"What about you?" I asked. He'd mentioned having things to do.

"None of your business." He told me, sounding annoyed.

Again with the attitude. We staid quiet for the rest of the drive. I wasn't going to be the one to speak first, not after the way Jason treated me last time. He definitely didn't try to strike up a conversation. When we arrived at my house I got out of the car without a goodbye to Jason.

"Emma, is that you?" Mom called when I walked in the door.

"Yeah, mom." I called back.

"Can you come here a moment?"

I followed her voice to the kitchen. She was sitting there drinking a coffee, a beer bottle in front of her.

"That's not yours, is it?" I asked, tempted to walk over and take the bottle away. She was _pregnant_.

"Of course not. It's Barrels." She said, annoyed. "Where have you been? You didn't come home last night."

"Oh, you noticed?" I asked, the harsh tone in my voice unintentional.

Mom looked embarrassed for a moment. "Actually, no, Barrel mentioned it to me this morning." She said. Figures! She didnt' care about anyone but stupid Barrel anymore.

"I was at a friends house." I told her.

She just nodded, not interested in what friend, or what we did. "Do you mind making Darrel something to eat? He's been complaining for an hour, but I'm just too tired."

No way! "Of course mom." I said instead. I didn't want to deal with the argument.

I made macaroni and cheese for mom and Darrel than headed up to my room to change. After putting on a pair of jean skirt and a red t-shirt, I went back downstairs to talk to my mother.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Emma?" She replied. She was watching T.V. with Darrel.

"Do you have any pictures of dad?" I asked.

She looked up, surprised. "Why? You never ask about your father." She answered.

"I know, but I've never actually seen a picture of him." I said.

"Can it wait?" She asked. "I'll get them later."

"It's kind of important, mom." I said, insisting.

"Fine. They should be in a box in the closet upstairs." Said said, and waved me away.

"Thanks."

I went upstairs and took out all three boxes. After searching through the first two, I was getting discouraged. Maybe she had accidentally thrown them out. Maybe they got lost in the move. It wasn't until the third box that I actually found them. They were in an old photo book that I'd never seen before. There was only two pictures. I took both of them out.

I could see that family resemblance, of course. The shape of my eyes, the full lips. His eyes were more of an ice blue, though. His hair was grey so I had no way of knowing if we had the same hair colour. I doubted it, though. I had my mothers curly blonde hair. I flipped both pictures over. The first one was blank. The second one had a single word written on it: Bishop.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was... hard to write, to say the least. I originally had a whole other chapter that was completely different from this one done, which had about twice as many words as this one. Buuuuut, I didn't like it. So, this is what you get. Hope it was good. I definitely like this chapter MUCH better than the original. <strong>

**Review please, people! Tell me what you loved, or, you know, hated. Any feedback is good feedback. **

**Also, is anyone surprised by the ending of the chapter? :D  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 7

You'd think that a seventeen year old girl who didn't have her father around would ask questions about him, or about who he was, or want to know his name at least. I wasn't like that. When my mom told me that my father wasn't around, not that he was dead, I didn't ask anymore questions.

Why would I want to know about a guy who didn't want to be in his child's life? Who _chose_ to abandon their kid? Now, looking at the two pictures of him, I wondered what he was like. Not because I wanted to know him, but because I wanted to know if I was _like_ him.

After putting the two pictures safely away in my pocket, I returned the boxes to their place in the closet. Then I went back downstairs to grab some of the macaroni and cheese I had made. When I got down there, I saw my mother and Darrel both sitting downstairs, watching TV and Darrel drinking beers.

There was about six empty beer bottles on the living room table. Probably more in the kitchen. I grabbed the six off the table and took them too the garbage outback. When I came back in, Darrel was there.

"What do you think you're doin'?" He asked. He was definitely drunk already.

"I was just cleaning up your mess." I said, trying to be as calm as possible. When Darrel was drunk, anything could set him off.

"You think I can't clean up my own messes? You think you're better than me?" Darrel said, his face slashing red.

"No. I'm used to doing it. I don't think that you're not capable, just that you're not going to." I said. It's hard not to be scared of Darrel. He was a large man, probably weighing around 230-240 pounds, and he had anger issues, especially when he was drinking. Which was, like, always.

"You little bitch! How dare you talk to me like." Darrel shouted. His face was getting even redder. He leaned forwards and backhanded me, just once, but it was enough to make me stagger backwards. It took everything in me not to instantly put my hand up to cover my face. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know he hurt me.

When Darrel backed out of the kitchen, I ran up the stairs to my room. I needed to get out of the house, but it was getting dark out. When Darrel gets in one of these moods, it's usually something that will last all night. He tends to go picking fights even when there's nothing to fight about.

There was no way I could walk anywhere. The only person who I could even get to drive me, and that is only if he's in a good mood, would be Jason. But I had no idea how to get a hold of him... Unless he was at Common Grounds.

As an employee, I learned the Common Grounds number pretty fast. I picked up the phone in my room and called it. I didn't have my own cellphone, yet. I was planning on getting one with my first paycheck.

"Hello?" Came an unfamiliar voice from the other end. "Coffee Grounds, how may I help you?"

It wasn't Oliver. It had to be my coworker. Who, weirdly enough, I've never met.

"I was wondering if Jason Rosser was there?" I said into the phone.

"Jason? You sure you really want to talk to _him_?" The boy asked, sounding incredulous.

"I'm positive. Is he there?"

"Just a second." He replied. I heard him put the phone down. A few seconds later it was picked back up again.

"Hello?" Jason asked, sounding confused.

"Hey, it's me." I said into the phone. Then I realized that he probably didn't know who me was. "I mean, it's Emma."

"I know who it is." He replied, and sounded surly.

"Can you do me a huge favor?" I asked, trying to sound as pleading as was possible without throwing up in my mouth.

"What?" Jason sounded extremely annoyed now.

"Is there any movie theaters open in Morganville?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" He said in a mocking tone.

"Uh, no. I just need to get out of the house and wanted to know if you could drop me off at one." I said, and then realized how lame that sounded. Who the hell goes to a movie by themselves?

"And why the hell do you think I'm going to be your taxi service?" He said angrily. "Don't you have someone else you can bother?"

"No, I don't. You're pretty much the only person I know here who isn't a vampire. Or the mayor. And if you really don't want to, I guess I could just walk and find one..."

"I can't tell if you're guilt tripping me or threatening me. Why do you want to get out so bad?" He asked.

"It's none of your business." I said, using his own words against him.

"Whatever. I'll be there in five minutes. Only because I know you'll do something stupid if I don't." Jason said, and hung up the phone.

I waited in my room until Jason showed up. When he did, I grabbed my purse from beside my bed and ran downstairs. I got out the door before anyone came to say goodbye to me. Yet Darrel still made an effort to say goodbye.

"Emma! Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He asked, opening the door and yelling out at me.

I turned around, my eyes wide. "I-I'm just going out, with a friend." I said quickly.

"The house is a mess, you can come back here and clean it the hell before you go screwing around with your friends." Barrel said, and came down the steps at me. I backed up, quickly, towards Jason's car. Just as I was about to get in Darrel grabbed my arm. I yanked away as hard as I could and quickly jumped in the car, locking the door as I sat down.

"Go, please. Just go!" I shouted urgently at Jason.

Thankfully, he did. Darrel was left staring shocked after the car. For about five seconds I worried about what might happen if a vampire happened along him at this moment. It _was_ dark out. But then I realized that I was worrying for nothing. If Darrel was gone, only good things could come.

"What the hell was that about?" Jason asked once we finally left my street.

"What do you mean?" I asked, playing dumb. This wasn't something I discussed with friends, let alone someone who practically _hates_ me.

"Emma, don't play stupid with me."

"Can we just go somewhere? Without talking?" I said. I was starting to act like Jason. Annoyed at everything he said, and pretty much keeping everything to myself.

Oh well.

"Whatever." Was all he said back.

We drove until we were once again in front of the little house where Jason lived.

Confused, I asked, "Why are we here? What happened to the movie theater?"

"By the time you got out of a movie theater it would be late, and I have someone important coming over tonight. It's just easier to watch a movie here, that way I don't miss her when she gets here. Okay?"

Her? He was meeting a _her_ at his _house_? Is it some sort of date? Is she his girlfriend? He has a girlfriend and never _told_ me? Not that there was a reason for him to tell me, I guess. Or a reason for me to care in any way possible.

"Fine." I said, getting out of the car and walking up to the front porch. Jason followed, but before he made it to the door, someone else was standing between him and I. Someone large, with teeth too long to be human. My heart sped up, and my adrenalin kicked in. Before Jason or the vampire could even say anything, I kicked him. Right below the belt.

You'd think, being a super human and all, that even my strongest kick wouldn't hurt him. Yet he instantly grabbed at his junk and nealt to the ground. Wasting no time, Jason reached around me, unlocked and opened the door. He pushed me through in front of him and slammed the door. The glass on the front door shattered inwards suddenly, leaving cuts on my arms. Jason covered his head with his arms and pushed me away from the door.

"I thought he couldn't get in here?" I screamed, getting as far from any doors or windows as I could, which wasn't very easy. Why was there windows _everywhere_?

"He can't!" Jason yelled. He had to yell, since the beast outside was growling loudly.

Honest to god _growling_.

"You _bitch_!" He shouted. Suddenly his hand tried to reach through the door to unlock it.

"Jason!" I screamed, looking around for something to attack him with if he managed to get in.

"Emma, he can't-"

Suddenly the hand disappeared.

"What's going on?" I asked, a little more afraid when I couldn't tell where the vampire was. At least when he was trying to break in the front door I knew where he was coming from.

"I have no idea. Wait here." Jason said, and headed into the living room. When he came back, he was shaking his head. "He's gone."

* * *

><p>an **I'm adding these chapters pretty quickly. I think I'm as excited to see what happens next as any readers. That is, if any of you are excited... Review review review, people! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

I told Jason to go sit on the couch while I cleaned up the broken glass. I liked the cleaning. It gave me time to really digest what just happened. I really just kicked a vampire in the balls. How many people can say they've done that? I bet that only a few have actually done it, and most of them never lived to tell the tale.

I actually giggled out loud at that. Maybe I'm in shock. Jason came out of the living room and stared at me.

"What's so fun- What the hell happened to your face?"

I stood up and instinctively touched the spot on my face where Darrel had hit me. Ooh, it was sore.

"Nothing of importance." I said, and bent down the sweep that last of the glass into the dustpan.

"That's not nothing. It's a huge bruise, Emma." He said, stepping towards me. I took a step backwards.

"Do you have a box I can put this in?"

"Yeah, I'll go get it." He said, shaking his head.

When we were finished cleaning up, we went into the living room to watch a movie. Jason had one of the largest movie collections I've ever seen.

"Cruel Intentions?" I said, holding the movie up. "You seriously have this movie?"

Jason shrugged. "It's good."

"It's a tragic love story." I said, raising my eyebrows. It was one of my favorite movies, though, so I put it in.

"So, when's you friend coming over?" I asked casually as the movie started. Ryan Phillippe was _so_ hot.

"She should be he-"

"Jason!" Yelled a voice from outside the house. Suddenly a female burst through the door and hurried into the living room. She looked frantically around until she spotted Jason and I on the couch.

It was Eve. So _Eve_ was his girlfriend. I expected to instantly dislike this girl who Jason was having over, but I couldn't. Eve was nice. And she was really pretty. I guess it made sense that Jason's girlfriend would be really pretty.

"Are you okay?" She said, looking Jason and I over to see if we were alright. "The front window is gone. I thought... I thought something happened."

"We're fine. Had a little run in with a vampire, but Emma took care of that. She kicked him in the balls and down he went..." Jason said, and smiled at Eve.

Eve laughed. "I knew you were a tough chick." Eve said. "Ouch, did he manage to get a shot in first?"

"Yeah..." I said quietly. Jason looked at me, but didn't mention that the vampire hadn't touched me at all.

"What are you doing here anyway, Emma?" Eve asked. She didn't say it in a rude way, she just sounded curious.

"She wanted to go to the movies, but I told her I had to meet you here." Jason said. He didn't sound annoyed now. With eve around, Jason's whole mood improved.

"Oh, so am I interrupting a date, or something?" Eve asked, suddenly looking embarrassed.

"What? No, no way. She just needed to get out of the house and I'm apparently the only one she bothers." Jason said, going back to the Jason I knew.

Eve looked from her brother to me, then shrugged. "Alright. I'm just going to take my coat off." She said, and left the room.

"So _Eve_ is your girlfriend?" I asked Jason. I didn't look at him when I asked. "It makes sense. I mean, she is really pretty. And cool."

"What? Emma, no, Eve's-"

"Who's is this?" Eve asked, coming in holding a picture. She held it away from her as if she were disgusted.

"Oh, that's my father, I guess. I never met him, that's one of the only pictures I have of him. Where was it?" I asked, standing up.

Instead of giving it to me, she passed it to Jason. Jason took the picture and stared at it. His eyebrows went up. "Emma, that's not your dad." He said quietly.

"Actually, it is." I said, snatching the picture out of his hand.

"That's impossible." Eve said, staring at me.

"Is it?" Jason asked. He looked between me and Eve.

"What do you mean?" Eve asked.

"You missed what Oliver did today. He invited Emma to his meeting with Amelie. He made Emma dress up first. When she met me in the car, I thought she was Amelie. He had her hair in the same way, and her outfit was something Amelie would wear, and they looked so much alike that I bet I'm not the only one who thought she was Amelie." Jason said, staring hard at Eve.

"You're right. Richard thought I was Amelie. I don't see what this has to do with my father, though." I said, staring at them both, confused.

"Emma... Bishop is Amelie's father. He is, was, a thousand year old vampire." Eve said slowly.

Now it was my turn to say, "That's impossible."

* * *

><p>an** Okay, so this is the shortest chapter I've done so far. The next one will be longer. Most likely. :) **

Come on, write a review. You know you want to! ;)**  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9

"I didn't know vampires could have children." I said, confused. Bishop was my father, I was positive on that one. There was too many facial similarities for him not to be.

"They can't. I mean, I'm almost positive they can't. Not normally, anyways." Eve said. She looked as confused as I felt. "Let me see that picture again."

Eve studied the picture and my face. "This is freaky. We have to tell Amelie." She said finally.

"We cannot tell anyone else." Jason said firmly. "Amelie, that's it. If word gets around that she's Bishops' daughter, things will get bad.

"Why?" I asked. "I mean, wouldn't being the daughter of a powerful old vampire be a _good_ thing?"

Jason and Eve exchanged a look that said they clearly thought I was crazy.

"You never knew Bishop. Many people would kill you out of spite for what he's done." Eve said. Then her look softened. "You may not have done aynthing wrong, but he has done a _lot_ of bad things, honey."

"No one tries to kill Amelie. She's his daughter too." I said. This conversation was bothering me. Why was everyone always talking about people killing me lately?

"Would you really want to screw with Amelie? I sure as hell wouldn't, and I'm willing to be no one else here would either, other than Oliver." Eve replied.

"Wait, wait, wait." I said. My whole body suddenly went cold. "How long has Bishop been a vampire?"

"A couple hundred years, at least. Possibly thousands? Who knows. A long time." Jason said. "Why?"

"Because, I'm only seventeen. That means that he was for sure a vampire when he, you know helped my mother create me." I said. When they both gave me blank stares, I continued. "Does that make me part vampire?"

Jason shrugged as Eve said, "I have no idea."

"Feel like biting me ever?" Jason asked.

"No."

"Does it hurt when you go out in bright sunlight?" Eve asked.

"No, but I don't tan very well." I said, and motioned to my pale skin.

"Any weird aversion to wood or stakes? Like to eat your steak raw? Ever want to sleep in a coffin?" Jason fired at me.

"I don't think that one's true." Eve put in.

"No, and no. Ew. And definitely no. I have claustrophobia. " I said, and wrinkled up my nose.

"Then I'm willing to bet you're not part vampire. You don't fit any of the stereotypes." Jason said with a shrug.

Suddenly Eve's phone rang.

"Be right back." She said, and flipped it open.

"She's not upset that we were watching a movie together, is she?" I asked Jason when she was gone. He turned to face me, a confused look on his face.

"Why would she be? Eve likes you, apparently. Though I don't see why." He replied.

"Well, she's your girlfriend. I wouldn't be too happy if I had a boyfriend and he was watching movies with another girl, whether or not he hated her." I said.

"I was trying to tell you before, Emma. Eve's not my girlfriend. She's my _sister_." He told me, then added, "And I don't hate you."

Is it bad that I felt slightly relieved.

"Oh, well... um. Let's forget I brought that up, okay?"

"Why would you care, anyways?"

"I do-"

"Sorry, that was Claire. She wanted to know if I was coming home soon." Eve said with a smile. "I guess I should be going. Jason, next time I call you fifty times, answer once. Or call back. I was worried."

"Sorry. I've been busy." He replied.

"Behaving, I assume?"

"Don't worry, I've pretty much just been driving Emma around like a taxi service." He replied, and roled his eyes.

"You be nice to her. She's a nice girl, you're lucky she's even giving you the time of day." Eve teased.

"It's not like that." Jason told her quickly.

"Whatever. I'll see you too later. We're having a big dinner at the glass house tomorrow. You're both invited." Eve said with a smile, going to get her jacket.

"Yeah, that'll be fun. Listening to Shane bitch all night." Jason muttered.

"Come on, Jason. He's trying. He's not used to giving people second chances. He's having a hard time getting over that time you stabbed him..." Eve trailed off, realizing she'd said something she shouldn't have. Jason gave Eve a, "Shut the hell up!" look.

I turned to look at Jason.

"Well, I'm going to, um, go. Bye!" She called quickly, and ran out the door.

Jason avoided looking at me. He stared at everything else in the room, but me.

"You _stabbed_ someone?" I asked, incredulous.

"I told you, Emma. I'm not who you think I am." He said angrily. "Come on, I'm driving you home."

"Wait, can't we finish watching the movie first?" I asked quickly. I did want to watch the movie, but mostly I didn't want to go home. Not after the stunt I pulled with Darrel.

"What're you avoiding?" Jason asked, looking me straight in the eyes.

"What are _you_ avoiding?" I countered.

"If you don't tell me, I'm taking you home right now." He said angrily.

"Fine!" I said back, equally angry. I stood up, and walked around the room. "Darrel's my mom's boyfriend. He likes to drink. When he does, he gets... angry, sometimes. That's all there is too it."

"That is not all there is too it." He said, standing up as well.

"Whatever. I told you what I was avoiding, now can I stay?" I asked quietly.

"You mean overnight?"

I bit my lip, not answering. I didn't want to have to stay with Jason, who was rude to me about 90% of the time, but it was better than going home.

"Fine. But I'm not sleeping on the couch this time." He said.

"Fine." I replied, and sat on the couch. Eventually Jason joined me and we finished watching Cruel Intentions without speaking againg. When it was over, Jason stood up.

"There's blankets in there." He said, pointing to a closet in the hallway. "I'm going to bed."

"Night." I called after him. Then added softly, "And thanks."

Jason didn't reply. I went to the closet and grabbed a blanket. Then I shut off the lights and curled up on the couch. Just as I was about to fall asleep, there was a knocking on the window behind my head. Confused and disoriented, I foolishly opened the curtain.

Just like last time, the vampire was standing face to face with me through the glass. And just like last time, he smiled that cruel smile at me. I stared, frozen in horror. This time he wrote the message right in front of me.

"I know who you are, Bishop's daughter."

Suddenly my body unfroze and I quickly shut the curtain and ran up the stairs. Jason's door was open, but instead of knocking I just busted right in. I flicked on the light and jumped into bed with him, without even thinking.

"What the hell?" He asked, sounding annoyed and half asleep. He rubbed his face and the looked at me. "What're you doing?"

"It's the vampire, from earlier. H-he was there, at the window an-and he was listening to us all night. He said that he knew who I was and then-" I stopped suddenly, noticing for the first time that Jason was only in a pair of black boxers and I was lying in bed with him. "Uh, he smiled at me."

"We'll deal with that in the morning when we talk to Amelie." Jason said, sighing. "Go back to bed, Emma."

"Are you crazy?"

"Yes." Jason replied, looking serious.

"I can't go back down there." I told him.

"Then turn the god damn light off." He said, and rolled over and pulled the blankets back over himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Waking up, I felt greatly rested. Yet I was very surprised when I realized I was curled right up against someone else. I sat up quickly, realizing I wasn't in my own bed. The movement I made woke up the person beside me.

Jason opened his eyes, looked at me, rolled back over and muttered, "Still dreaming..."

I rolled out of bed, trying not to wake him. Then I tiptoed out into the hallway and down the stairs. Once there, I went to the kitchen. It was messy. Not as bad as my house after a couple of days of no cleaning, but definitely messy. I opened the fridge. Nothing except a package of hotdogs. I went to the front door and grabbed my purse from where I left it and headed out.

I went to the store, which wasn't very hard to find during the day. I bought eggs, a pack of bacon, bread, butter and cheese slices. When I paid for them, I headed back to Jason's. He was still sleeping. I got to work cleaning the kitchen up, and doing the few dishes he had. Then I searched for frying pans.

I love cooking. Even though grilled cheese, and eggs and bacon are pretty easy to cook, it's still something I really enjoy. I guess it was kind of my own coping mechanism. Whenever my mother and her boyfriends would fight, I would make them dinner, or lunch, or breakfast. One thing I've realized is that food tends to distract people.

Once everything was done and on plates, I brought Jason's upstairs. I knocked first this time. He was awake and opened the door.

"Here." I said, and thrusted the plate at him. "It's my way of saying thank you. For, you know, last night."

Jason took the plate and nodded. He followed me back down stairs. I grabbed my plate and sat down on the couch beside jason. He ate without saying anything.

"So how do we find Amelie?" I asked between bites of egg.

"We?" Jason repeated.

"I just figured that you were going to help me..." I said, trailing off and feeling stupid.

"Fine. But only because I know you couldn't handle this on your own." He replied.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You really think I can't?" I said, standing up. "You know what? I'll go myself. I'll see you tonight."

"Tonight?" He asked, a confused look on his face. The fact that he didn't protest or stop me made my blood boil.

"Yeah, but _only_ because I like your sister. This has absolutely nothing to do with you." I said angrily. I put my plate down on the coffee table and left.

First thing I had to do was go home. I had to change and shower. I was kind of worried to go home after what had went down with Darrel the night before, but when I entered the house, it was empty. Thank goodness. After getting dressed I went into my mom and Barrel's room. After searching through the first four drawers and not finding what I needed, I got discouraged, but in the last drawer, I found what i had been looking for.

My birth certificate. I quickly scanned it, finding my father's name immediately. Bishop Wyther. I pocketed it along with the picture of Bishop. Then I headed out for Founder's Square.

The walk should have been easy, considering the size of Morganville, but it was so hot here that by the time I got to Founder's Square, I was so thirsty. I headed up the steps to the City Hall. The same secretary was there. I walked up with a smile on my face.

"Can I speak to Richard, please?"

The woman looked up at me. "Do you have an appointment?" She asked. She looked bored. Not at all the friendly and eager to please woman she was last time.

"Um, no." I said. "But it's very important."

"You need to make an appointment. Mr. Morrell doesn't have time to deal with every college student with a problem." She said, and then looked away from me back to her computer.

"It's important. Amelie sent me." I said, the lie coming to my lips without even thinking them first.

Suddenly the secretaries face changed completely. "Oh, sorry. Mrs, um...?"

"Rainn."

"Oh. Mrs. Rainn. Go right in." She said and smiled at me.

I didn't return the smile. I just headed straight into Richard's office. He looked up, startled, when I entered.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"It's me. I mean, it's Emma. I was here the other day? After Amelie and Oliver's meeting?" I said, sitting down.

"Oh!" He said, his expression changing to a friendly one. "You look really different with your hair down."

"Thanks... I think." I said, and smiled at him. "I was wondering if you could help me."

"Whatever you need." He said, then added, "As long as it's legal."

"I need to speak to Amelie." I told him. His expression turned to one of surprise.

"That might be a little hard, but I'll see what I can do. What do you need to talk to her about? I'm only asking because unless it's important, I can't ask her to come talk to you." He said. "Not because I don't want to, but because Amelie doesn't like to be bothered and might get angry."

Instead of responding, I just handed him my birth certificate and the picture of my father. I watched as his expression went from on of confusion, to disbelief to horror. Then back to disbelief.

"This can't be right, Emma." He said, handing them back to me.

"I know. Trust me. I still need to talk to Amelie about it, though." I said, and when he looked hesitant, I added, "Please."

Alright. Wait here. I'll go give her a call. But I'm not sure she's going to come right away." He said, standing up.

I waited in Richard's office until he came back. When he did, he gave me a small smile. "She said to wait here, she'll be over shortly."

"Thank you. A lot." I said. "I just want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

"I understand."

"So, while we're waiting, how about that long story?" I asked. When he looked at me with a confused expression on his face, I added, "About how you became probably one of the youngest mayors ever."

The smile on his face disappeared instantly. "My father used to the mayor." He said, a clouded look on his face. "He died during a storm we had here not to long ago... They just handed me the job. I used to be a police officer."

I looked up, horror struck. "I'm so sorry!" I said quickly. "I never should have asked."

"Don't worry. You didn't know." He said, and tried to give me a small smile.

"I guess you must hate it." I said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"This job. It must remind you of... you know, your father a lot."

"Sometimes. Everyone just expected me to be so happy. I liked being a police officer, though. Being mayor is just a constant reminder that he's dead." Richard said, without looking me in the eye. Then he gave me a huge smile. "Enough with the depressing conversation."

The smile on his face just didn't look real. Before I could make him more upset, Amelie stepped into the room, followed by two large bodyguards.

"Richard. Emma." She said, nodding to both of us in turn. "Why is it that you've called me here?"

Just as I had with Richard, I passed her the photo and certificate. She read them and then handed them back to me.

"This is quite shocking." She said. "I wouldn't have believed you, yet I don't think there is anyone alive today, other than Oliver, who actually knows Bishops surname."

"So you believe it?" I asked her.

"Well, I'll need to run some tests, of course." She said, motioning for me to stand up. "We must go see Myrnin right away."

"Wait!" I said, suddenly feeling frightened. "What kind of tests?"

She gave me what must have been her attempt at a reassuring smile. "Nothing dangerous. Just some blood tests."

"Is it going to be long? I have a dinner with some friends tonight." I told her. It looked as if she was holding back an eye roll.

"Fine. We'll have Richard drive you there when we're finished." She said, and motioned for both Richard and I to follow her as she walked out the door.

Outside there was a limo waiting for Amelie. She got in, but didn't ask us to get in with her. Richard just shrugged as she drove away and led me towards his truck. It was a gorgeous black Escalade.

"This thing is huge." I said, trying to pull myself up into the cab. I wasn't short, but it was pretty high up.

"She's my baby." He said, and patted the side of the truck.

"She?" I asked once we were both settled in.

"Of course. Everyone knows that a guys vehicle is a girl." He said, smiling.

"Who's Myrnin?" I asked when we started driving.

"Myrnin is... He's... well, he's kind of crazy."

"And he's a vampire?" I asked. Richard nodded. "So I'm getting my blood taken by a crazy vampire. Am I going to live through this, or no?"

Richard laughed. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." He said and turned to smile at me. I smiled right back.

He was so _cute_. And nice. So different from Jason. He was never mean, or hurtful. He actually opened up to me, and we've only spoken twice. And here he was, offering to protect me. Jason would tell me that I should handle it myself, or that he was only protecting me because he was forced to.

When Jason pulled up in front of a nice house, almost an exact replica of my own, I was surprised. This place looked nothing like I would expect a crazy vampires house to look like.

"Here?" I asked. Richard shook his head.

"We can't drive to where we're going. This is about as close as we can get." He said, then hopped out of the truck.

"Why is it," I started, leaning halfway out of the truck. "That every time I see you I end up jumping from high places?"

Richard laughed and offered me a hand down. I took it and smiled at him once my feet were firmly on the ground.

"I don't understand how girls where those things." He said, meaning my shoes.

We were headed towards a path that was surround by bushes. You couldn't see anything on either side of it.

I shrugged. "You get used to it." I told him. "Now this looks more like the kind of place a vampire would live."

We hadn't even arrived where we were going yet but I was already creeper out. Eventually we came up to a slanted shack.

Richard opened the door and led me down a set of stairs. There was another door here and he knocked on the door. Eventually it was answered by a guy, a couple of years older then Richard, wearing a weird outfit that looked like a mix between a cowboy and a pimp.

"Myrnin. Amelie sent us." Richard said, walking in the doorway.

"Yes, she's here." Myrnin replied, and motioned for me to come in as well. "So this is the demon's second offspring?"

I noticed Amelie in the room. Here guards were gone this time. She shot Myrnin a glare. "This is Bishop's possible daughter, yes." Amelie said. "You can see by her age, and the fact that she is not a vampire, that this seems quite impossible."

Myrnin looked me over. Then he stepped very close to me and inhaled. "You're right. Definitely human." He said, then walked over to a table. He grabbed a knife and came towards me.

I instantly backed up a couple steps. "What're you _doing_?" I asked, frightened.

Richard stepped forward and in front of me. Amelie came over and put a hand on Myrnin's arm. "She's human. You can't just cut her to get the sample, she won't heal the same way we do." She said. "I'm sure you have a syringe around here somewhere."

Myrnin came me a bright smile. "My apologies. Sometimes I forgot that you humans are so... fragile." He turned and rummaged around the space. Eventually he came back with a large needle and a vile few viles.

"This will only hurt a bit." He promised.

I bit my lip in anticipation. "Couldn't we have just, you know, done this professionally, at a hospital?" I asked.

"This will be perfectly safe. I know what I'm doing." He said. I looked at Richard, who nodded.

I closed my eyes as Myrnin attached the vile to the needle and jabbed it into my arm. After a little while he pulled out the first file and reattached another.

"Sorry. I'm going to need a lot of samples for this kind of work." He replied, smiling.

By the end of the process I felt light headed and shaky.

"You can go to your dinner now." Amelie said. "I'll get a hold of you as soon as Myrnin is done assessing the samples."

Richard grabbed my arm lightly and led me out of the shack. I realized about halfway down the path that I needed his arm to hold me up. When we got to the truck, I was so tired I couldn't make it into the cab.

"Never had your blood taken before, I take it?" Richard asked me.

I nodded. He picked me up effortlessly and put me into the cab of the truck.

"So, where are we headed?" He asked.

"Actually, I'm not sure. I didn't get the address." I replied. How stupid was I?

"Who are you visiting? I'm sure I can figure it out."

"Um, Eve. Eve Rosser." I told him.

He smiled. "Perfect. I needed to speak to Shane anyways." He said. "I guess I'll be coming in with you."

* * *

><p><strong>an You know, personally Richard is one of my favorite Morganville characters. I wish we got to see more of him in the books. **

**Review! **

**Also, a special thanks to Dark Angel, the only person yet to favorite this story! You're awesome, and it makes me want to write more, knowing that someone actually likes it. :)  
><strong>


	11. Chapter 11

Richard knocked on the door of Eve's house. It was large, and looked almost identical to the one I lived in, and the one by Myrnin's house. Except that this house was in need of a good paint job. Eventually someone answered the door.

He was cute. It seemed to me that most of Morganville's male population was attractive. He had shaggy blonde hair, a nice face, and a very well built body. When he noticed Richard on his doorstep his expression changed from smiling to glaring.

"Dick." Was all he said. For a second I thought he was insulting Richard, until I realized that Dick was the short form of the name Richard. Yet I still think he meant it in an insulting way.

"I was supposed to meet Eve here?" I said, trying to break up the tension between the two men.

"Eve!" He called, but didn't take his eyes off Richard. "What do _you_ want?"

"You know what I want, Shane. It's been two months since you've paid your taxes. I thought we had an understanding." Richard said, not breaking eye contact with Shane until Eve entered the doorway.

"Emma!" She said, and smiled brightly at me. "And Richard?"

Suddenly I swayed, feeling the loss of blood again. I needed to sit down. And a big glass of coke.

"Is she okay?" Shane asked Richard.

"Myrnin took her blood." Richard explained. "A lot of it, actually."

Eve grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house. Richard followed, though Shane glared at him the entire time. Eve plopped me down on a large, cumfy sofa. There was three other people in the room, Jason, Claire, and a boy I hadn't met before.

"I'm okay, I promise." I said, but didn't stand up. "I just need a drink, or something."

"That asshole _bit_ her?" Shane said, sounding outraged. He turned to Richard. "And what'd you do, just stand there?"

"What?" Jason said angrily, getting out of his chair and quickly coming to stand beside me. He bent down and put his finger on my chin, moving my head to the side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." I said for the second time. "He didn't bite me. He needed a blood sample. A big one. That's all."

Eve quickly went to the kitchen and brought me back a coke. I took it gratefully and chugged back half of it in one sip.

"What're you doing here, Richard?" Claire asked him. Then she blushed. "Not that we don't love your company, of course."

He smiled at her. " I was just giving Emma here a ride over. And warning Shane that he needs to do his blood taxes."

"You can stay, if you want. We have tons of food." Eve said warmly.

Shane just continued to glare at Richard. "Yeah, invite another unwelcome house guest into our home, Eve." He said angrily. My cheeks flushed. Was I not supposed to be here? "Not you... Emma, right?"

I nodded.

Eve slapped herself gently on the forehead. "I'm so sorry, I'm such a bad hostess. Emma, this is Shane. That's Michael." She said, pointing over to the boy on the couch. "And you know Claire and Jason, of course."

"Can we eat now?" Shane asked. "I'm starving."

Everyone gathered at a big table. Eve and Claire brought in big platefuls of food. There was a giant roast, with onions, carrots, potatoes and gravy.

"This is great." I said after eating a little. "Thanks for inviting me."

"You're welcome." Eve said after swallowing a bite of roast.

I was seated between Jason and Richard, with Shane right across from me. I could feel the tension radiating off all three of the boys. No one else was talking. I was sure I wasn't the only one who felt the tension. Claire was the first one to break it.

"So, Emma, what brings you to Morganville?"

"My mom's having a baby. She decided our flat in New York wasn't suitable to raise a child in. She said it would be better here." I told her.

Shane snorted loudly. "Yeah, much better her in morgue-ville." He said.

It was quite again for a few minutes.

"I'm doing a show tomorrow." Michael said, breaking the silence. It was the first thing he'd said since I'd been here. Suddenly all eyes were on him, except for Jason's.

"Show?" I asked, confused.

"Michael's a musician." Eve said proudly, looking like the mother of a kid who'd just won the big game for their team. "He plays at Common Grounds sometimes."

"Yeah, there's a big open mic night tomorrow." He said.

How had I not heard about that? I was an employee. "Is anyone allowed to join up?" I asked, suddenly very interested.

"Yeah, I don't think Oliver has many people performing. It's more of a go-up-if-you-wanna thing. Not really a sign up sheet." He told me with a smile. "Why, do you sing?"

"A little." I said, looking down and blushing. "Only covers, but I like doing it. I'm kind of scared to get up on stage, though."

"You should. I'm sure the crowd would love you." Richard said, smiling warmly at me. Jason suddenly looked tense again.

During the rest of the dinner there was only small talk. Once it was over, Michael invited all the guys to play video games. I stayed back and helped Claire and Eve clean up dinner.

"Thanks again, you guys. I really enjoyed it." I told them, carrying the big plate that the roast was on into the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it." Eve said. Then she gave me a kind of sad smile. "It's nice to see Jason have an actual friend."

"I don't think he actually considers me a friend." I told her. "I think I mostly just annoy him."

"Oh, that's just Jason. He kind of treats pretty much everyone like that." Eve said quietly. "He's had some issues."

"Yeah, like stabbing people. Or shooting Michael." Shane said, coming into the kitchen and grabbing a can of coke. Claire glared at him, but kissed him back when he leaned over and planted one on her lips.

When Shane was gone, I questioned Eve. "What's up with that, by the way? I asked him about it last night but he doesn't really talk about personal things."

Eve bit her lip, looking as if she was debating whether or not to tell me. I guess she decided to.

"I'll tell you the public stuff, but some things you have to have him tell you, okay?" She said. When I nodded, she continued. "Jason had trouble at home. After I moved out, things for him got worse. Eventually he got a reputation as a bad kid. When I saw him last with a girl who went missing and was later found dead, I went to the police and told them I had seen Jason with her, and he went to jail."

Eve looked ashamed. "When he got out, he got blamed for a lot worse. Eventually he joined up with this bad group of people. He figured that no one believed that he wasn't a terrible person, so he might as well act like one. He stabbed shane, but in his defense Shane did come at him with a bat. And then the Michael thing happened, and something with Claire." She said. She noticed the horrified look on my face. "No, no, Emma. Listen. He's not bad. He's done some bad things, I know that, but I know him better than anyone. He was just a confused kid with no one to care for him."

"Yeah." I said, staring out the open kitchen door at the boys. Jason wasn't playing video games with them. Instead he sat awkwardly on the chair, looking left out. I thought of the way he had let me stay at his house because of my problems with Darrel, and the way that he'd saved me, more than once. "I know."

Eve smiled at me. " I know he's not always the easiest person to get along with, but deep down he just needed someone to believe in him." She said with a sigh.

Looking at Eve, I could tell she blamed herself for a lot of what had happened to Jason. Though I didn't know the whole story, I knew that Eve really loved her brother.

I gave Eve one last smile then headed out into the living room. I plopped onto the couch next to Richard.

"Can I play next?" I asked. Everyone looked up at my words. "What?"

"You actually _want_ to play Call of Duty?" Shane asked me.

"Yeah?" I said, confused. "Oh, I get it. You guys are scared that a girl is going to kick your asses."

They all laughed, looking at me like I was crazy. Except Jason. He just sat there, an angry look on his face. Yet despite the anger in his expression, I thought he looked sad.

Once the round was over, Richard gave up his controller to me.

"I have to get going anyways." He said. He gave me a big smile. "I'll see you soon, Emma."

I nodded at him. He called goodbye to everyone else as he left.

"Okay, let's get this tarted." Shane said. There was three of us against each other, Michael and Shane on one team, me on the other. I could see another controller peaking out of a cushion and grabbed it.

"Jason, you're on my team." I told him, tossing the controller to him.

He looked confused, but caught the controller and turned it on.

By the end of the game, Jason and I had won. I had the most kills, even more than Shane. Michael shook his head in defeat. Shane stared blankly at the screen.

"No way. There's no way that I lost to a girl." He said, looking baffled. "It's just not possible."

"Believe it." I said, and smiled at Jason. "We make a good team."

Eve and Claire came out and sat on the floor in front of Shane and Michael.

"So, Emma, why were you getting your blood taken my Myrnin?" She asked.

I hesitated. Jason spoke up before I could make up a lie. "You can tell them. If there's anyone in Morganville you can trust with something like that, it's them." He said.

I nodded. "Amelie wanted Mrynin to run some tests because, as far as I know, she's technically my sister." I said. "Until proven wrong."

Shane, Claire, and Michael all stared at me.

"What I mean is that Bishop was my father. Apparently. Amelie wants tests done to see if it's possible, because he was, you know, a vampire." I said awkwardly.

"Holy shit." Was the only response I got, which was from Shane.

"That's got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever head." Michael said, looking confused. "Is that even possible? I thought we weren't able to procreate. Other than turning people into vampires like us."

"Like us?" I asked, suddenly being the one confused for a change.

"Oh, you didn't know." He said. "I'm the youngest vampire alive, I think. Amelie changed me less than a year ago."

"I don't know if you're the youngest. I think Bishop made a few vampires during his little take over." Claire corrected.

" 'Bishop's little take over?"

"Yeah. He came here and demanded that everyone obey him. Most people didn't really have a choice." Eve said. "Lots of people were killed. In the end, Bishop was killed, though."

"He's _dead_?"

Everyone exchanged looks for a second. "I thought you knew." Eve said quietly.

Everyone looked at me as if they expected me to be upset. "I didn't know him at all, so that doesn't really bother me. Especially when you say he was a terrible person. It's better that he's dead."

It was quiet for a few moments, until Claire announced, "I'm going to get to bed. I have an important test tomorrow."

"My little genius." Shane said, smiling at her. "Always worrying about school."

"I've got to go too. I have school, then work tomorrow. I need the rest." I said, standing up. I stretched, then looked over at Jason. He stood up too.

"I'm assuming you need a ride." He said, and walked with me to the door.

"You know it." I said with a smile.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day I was sitting in class, bored. Math was too easy for me, and I whipped through all the work. Now I had nothing better to do. I looked around the room and noticed a couple people goofing off and talking to each other. I sighed. Nothing made school worse like being friendless.

I wish I could be back in New York. At least there I had friends, and I wasn't just some lame-o new girl. My depressing thoughts were interupted when someone walked in the room.

It was Amelie. She looked very out of place in a school. "I need to speak to Emma." She said to the teacher. He nodded crazily, looking very nervous.

All eyes were on me as I walked to the front of the room to meet Amelie. "Return to your studies." She said as we exited the room.

"I'm not complaining or anything, but why are you here?" I asked while we walked down the hallway.

"We'll talk about it once we're in private." She replied.

I looked around. There was absolutely no one in the hallway would could overhear. I didn't mention that, though. Instead I just followed Amelie until we were in an empty classroom. Well, empty except for Myrnin.

"Emma, how're you today?" He asked, smiling a crazy smile at me.

"I'm fine. How're you?" I asked, feeling a little awkward.

"I'm fantastic, actually. I have you to thank for that."

"Me?" I asked, not completely understanding. "What did I do?"

"It's not really what you did, more what you _are_." He said, pointing a finger at me and continuing to smile that smile.

"What am I?"

"Yes, Myrnin, what do you mean?" Amelie asked. She was obviously just as out of the loop as I was.

"Something amazing, that I've never seen before. That I never even thought was possible!" He explaimed. "You, my dear, are half vampire, half human! Isn't that wonderful?"

"How is that even possible?" Amelie asked, looking baffled.

"I'm not sure. That's why I need you to come with me." Myrnin said, stepping towards me. "I need to run a lot of tests. Nothing like the simple blood test I did yesterday. That only told me the what, I want to know the how."

"Myrnin, calm down." Amelie said firmly. "You can't just dissect the girl."

"Oh, I won't need to dissect her. Just run a few tests, maybe take some skin samples, check her regeneration skills, her reactions, whether or not her body is able to fight diseases like ours, or if she actually gets very ill..." He said, trailing off, looking like a child in a candy store.

"I don't think so." I said, shocked. "You can't just give me diseases to see if I can fight them off. That could _kill_ me!"

"But don't you see? You're one of a kind! The first ever! We must explore that." Myrnin said happily.

I sighed loudly. "Look, Myrnin. I know you're excited. How about I let you run a few tests? But only the ones that don't hurt me, okay?" I tried to negotiate.

Amelie gave him a look that clearly said she wasn't going to allow him to choose anything else.

"Fine." He said, looking hugely disappointed.

"Can I go back to class now?" I asked.

"Wait a moment." Amelie said. "I have something for you.

I took the little box that she was handing me. I opened it. Inside was a small, pretty bracelet with a weird symbol on it. "What is it?" I asked, confused. I slipped the bracelet on.

"It's a way of saying that I give you my protection. While wearing that bracelet no vampire will touch you without fear of my retaliation." She told me. "But if people find out who, or what, you are, that bracelet probably won't be of much help. I trust that you haven't told anyone about any of this?"

"Only Jason. Oh, and Eve and her friends. Only because Jason promised that I was able to trust them. Other than that, no one else knows but Richard, and you already knew that." I replied.

"Jason? You mean Eve's brother?" She asked, her usually calm face showing a hint of surprise.

"Yes."

"Interesting company for a young woman such as yourself." She said, sounding a little disproving. "Are you sure you should be hanging around with him?"

Suddenly I got defensive. "You don't really know him, do you?" I asked.

"Trust me, child. I know more about Jason Rosser than even he knows about himself." Amelie said, looking me straight in the eyes. "All that I ask is that you be catious. Technically, you're the only family I have. I'd hate to see that change."

Her words didn't frighten me at all, but still I nodded, just to make her happy. She waved towards the door, clearly my dismissal.

Walking back into class, things had suddenly changed. Everyone looked from my face to the bracelet on my arm. Suddenly people were smiling at me. Even the teacher seemed to be being more nice to me.

After class, some girl stopped me in the hallway.

"Hey." She said, smiling. She had two other friends walking with her, all dressed very similar to her. "You're the new girl, Emma, right?"

"Right." I said, my eyebrow knotting in confusion. "Can I help you with something?"

The girl laughed. "Totally. You can tell me where you got that super hot dress." She said, meaning the tight, black, short dress I was wearing, with the light blue belt that brought out the colour in my eyes.

"In New York." I told her, feeling confused. Why was she talking to me?

"Is that where you're from? That is _so_ cool." She said with a huge fake smile.

"I've got to go. I have work." I said, using it as an excuse to leave. I really did have work, but I mostly just wanted to get away from this girl. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I could tell she didn't actually want to talk to me. There was nothing real about the way she spoke or smiled at me.

I walked by myself all the way to Common Grounds. I actually enjoyed the walk. Today wasn't too hot out, like it usually was in Morganville. At work, my coworker was there. It was the first time I'd met him. His name was Tyler. He was really nice, and had a cute smile that he used on all the girls that he served. He got big tips.

"Did you hear about the open mic night tonight?" He asked my during a break in the line.

"I did, but weirdly enough, not from Oliver. A friend told me. You'd think, being an employee and all, I'd have heard of it first." I said with a smile. "I was actually planning on performing myself."

"Really? I can't wait to see that." He said, smiling back at me.

The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully. I made coffee, took money, smiled, and shared small amounts of conversation with Tyler. When it got darker out, more and more people started coming in.

"These people are all here for the open mic night?" I asked, shocked. Maybe performing wasn't such a good idea. There was a lot of people here.

"Michael Glass is kind of a big thing here." He said, and pointed to a table where Michael, Eve, Claire, and Shane were sitting. "That's him, over there."

I nodded instead of pointing out that I already knew that. "You might want to go get ready if you're planning to get up there." He said. "I'll cover for you."

"Thanks." I said warmly.

I went into the back room and looked in the small mirror there. My make up was fine. My outfit was fine. I just had to get my guitar out of the case. I had brought it here before school. Oliver said it was fine to store it in the back, so I did.

My guitar was one of my most favorite possessions. I didn't play as much as I'd like, but I loved it when I did.I played a few notes to make sure it was tuned properly, then set it down. I took a big breath.

"You going to hide in here all night?" Came a voice from the doorway. I looked up to see Michael smiling at me.

"Yeah, I was just tuning my guitar." I said quietly.

"Nervous?" He asked.

"A little. I've never... I've never actually played for this many people before." I admitted to him.

"You'll love it. Trust me. There's nothing like the joy of the crowd loving you." He said, then laughed and added, "If you're good, that is."

"That makes me feel so much better." I said sarcastically.

"How about you watch me, then you go on?" He offered. "See that it's not so bad."

"Alright." I said, nodding.

We left the room. Michael walked up onto the little make-shift stage that Oliver had set up while Tyler and I were working.

Everyone clapped when he sat down on a chair and pulled the microphone towards him.

"So, here's a song I wrote about someone really special to me." He said, and sent a huge smile to Eve. I watched, amazed, as he captivated the entire audience. His song was beautiful, and so was his voice. When he was done, I joined in while everyone else clapped like mad.

And I was supposed to follow that. Suddenly I felt like throwing up. I tried to sneak back to the back room. Before I could make it all the way, I felt someone grab my arm. I turned around to see Jason holding onto my arm.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I was just... getting a drink." I lied.

"Aren't you supposed to go next?" He asked.

"Uh, well, I was, but you see, I can't now because... um... I think I have a fever. Just randomly came down with that. No point getting on stage, right?" I said, trying to weasel my way out of it.

Instead of replying, Jason dragged me to the stage. Michael was still up there with me. He took the micrphone off the stand.

"Everybody! This is Emma. She's new here, so let's be nice to her. Okay?" He said. Everyone laughed and clapped.

Oh god. I felt like I was going to die. Michael put the microphone back on the stand. I went up to it, holding my guitar.

"Um, this is a song I wrote a while ago. Um... alright." I said.

I closed my eyes to stop myself from getting even more freaked out.

**_I can feel the magic floating in the air_**

**_Being with you gets me that way_**

**_I watch the sunlight dance across your face and I've_**

**_Never been this swept away_**

**_All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze_**

**_When I'm lying wrapped up in your arms_**

**_The whole world just fades away_**

**_The only thing I hear_**

**_Is the beating of your heart_**

I opened my eyes and felt everyone staring at me. I kept singing, but felt a sinking feeling in my gut. Suddenly my eyes rested on Jason. He was staring at me, unblinking. Something in his face made my hold it together.

_'**Cause I can feel you breathe**_

**_It's washing over me_**

**_Suddenly I'm melting into you_**

**_There's nothing left to prove_**

**_Baby all we need is just to be_**

**_Caught up in the touch_**

**_The slow and steady rush_**

**_Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be_**

**_I can feel you breathe_**

**_Just breathe_**

**_In a way I know my heart is waking up_**

**_As all the walls come tumbling down_**

**_I'm closer than I've ever felt before_**

**_And I know_**

**_And you know_**

**_There's no need for words right now_**

**_'Cause I can feel you breathe_**

**_It's washing over me_**

**_Suddenly I'm melting into you_**

**_There's nothing left to prove_**

**_Baby all we need is just to be_**

**_Caught up in the touch_**

**_The slow and steady rush_**

**_Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be_**

**_I can feel you breathe_**

**_Just breathe_**

**_Caught up in the touch_**

**_The slow and steady rush_**

**_Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be_**

**_I can feel you breathe_**

**_Just breathe_**

**_I can feel the magic floating in the air_**

**_Being with you gets me that way._**

I put my guitar down, and finally looked away from Jason. I stood up, waiting for something happened. Nothing did, until one person started clapping. Then the entire place was full of clapping people, smiling up at me.

"Thanks." I said into the microphone quickly. I practically ran off the stage.

* * *

><p>an **Okay, so obviously the song used in the chapter wasn't an original song or anything. All rights belong to Faith Hill. Not much really happened in the chapter, but trust me, the next one is going to be interesting. Hopefully. We'll possibly get to some really romantic stuff soon. I've been waiting for the right time, you know? I didn't want to rush it but I'm just so impatient. You might just be surprised by the romance stuff, though. ;) **

**Also, REVIEW PEOPLE! Come on.  
><strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**This was definitely one of my FAVORITE chapters to write. The next one will be very emotional as well. :D**

* * *

><p>I went back to the back room to relax and put my guitar away. God, that ws amazing. I mean, terrifying, but amazing. The door opened and someone joined me in the room. It was Richard.<p>

"I didn't know you were here." I said, knotting my eyebrows together.

"I knew you were going to sing, so I had to see what you were like." He said, and took a few steps towards me.

"Oh." I said, suddenly feeling nervous. "Wh-what did you think?"

Richard moved so that he was standing right in front of me. "I was thinking that you're beautiful." He said, staring directly into my eyes.

I blushed. "What about the song?" I asked.

"Nothing compared to the singer, but it was amazing." He said, and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.

This was so random. I wasn't... I wasn't expecting Richard to be like this. I mean, he's hot, and maybe I had a little crush on him, but he was much older. At least five years. Possibly six. Yet when he pressed his lips to mind, I kind of didn't even think of the age difference. I was too busy thinking about how soft his lips were, and how gentle they were, pressed against mine.

I had closed my eyes, but at the sound of the door opening I opened them back up. And was faced with a wide eyed Jason.

"Jason-"

"Sorry. I thought maybe you'd want a ride home. I see you've already got one, though." He said, his eyes sparking with anger. " So don't bother me for one ever again."

He left the room. I was tempted to go after him but the look in his eyes when he left made me think he didn't want me to.

"I don't know what I did wrong." I said, confused.

"I think I do. I'm sorry Emma. I shouldn't have done that." He said quietly.

"What? No, no. I liked it." I said quickly. And I did. But I felt a little confused.

Together, Richard and I exited the back room. There was only a few people left at Common Grounds. It was dark outside.

"Great. I guess my ride left." I said with a sigh. I guess my protective bracelet might save me, but I'd really rather not chance it.

"Don't worry, I'll drive you." Richard offered.

"Thanks." I said, smiling gratefully at him.

We left and headed towards his truck. On the drive to my house we didn't really talk about anything person. Mostly just about what it was like in New York city and whether or not I liked Morganville.

"I do. Mostly. I mean, there are some parts I'd like to change but... I've met some pretty great people here." I said, and I meant every word I said.

We were almost at my house when I saw the smoke. It was everywhere. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was burning, but that couldn't be right. We drove slowly down the street, Richard being very cautious of the flashing lights lined up everywhere.

"What's going on?" I asked, starting to feel panicky.

When we pulled up in front of my house, the feeling of panick increased and I felt like throwing up. The smoke cleared a bit, and I could see the house. It was bad. Really bad. There was someone on a stretcher being taken into an ambulance. Without thinking, I jumped out of the still slightly moving vehicle. I dashed towards the ambulance.

"Who's in there?" I shouted.

"I'm sorry, but I can disclose that information to you." Said the man closing the doors to the ambulance.

"Please, this is my house!" I said, near tears. "Is my mom okay?"

"Mom? We didn't find any woman in the house... not yet, anyways. They're still searching. All we've found is a man." He told me. He gave me a sympathetic look, but I ignored it.

I ran towards the nearest firefighter. They were putting their equipment away. "I need to know if you've found my mother. Was she inside, is she okay?" I asked quickly. The man just shook his head at me.

What did that mean? That they didn't find her, that she wasn't in the house, or that she wasn't okay?

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by another stretcher coming out of the house. There was a sheet under the giant lump on the stretcher. I couldn't resist. I ran to it and pulled the sheet down.

Nothing could have held me up at that moment. My knees buckled and my body started shaking uncontrollably. Yet the tears just didn't fall.

"Is this the woman you were looking for?" Asked the firefighter who I'd originally questioned. I nodded at him. Though you wouldn't be able to tell from looking at her burned body, I knew it was my mother. She was wearing the butterfly necklace that I'd gotten her when I was in grade four.

"We've got a body!" Someone shouted.

"Two." I said.

"What?" Someone asked me.

"Two bodies. She is... was, pregnant." I said quietly. I stood up and walked back to Richard's truck. I hopped in.

"Is everything okay?" Richard asked.

Instead of answering his question, I asked one of my own. "Can you take me somewhere?"

"Sure." He replied, looking confused. "Where?"

I gave him the directions to get to Jason's house. When we pulled up out front of his house, I said a quick thank you to Richard and got out of the truck. I ran quickly up the steps to Jason's house. Richard drove away as I was knocking on the door.

When Jason answered I immediately jumped into his arms. Instead of wrapping them around me like I'd expected, he pushed me away gently.

"Go away, Emma." He said quietly and shut his door in my face.

It started to rain as I walked away from Jason's house. My body, along with my heart, was hurting so badly. Yet the tears wouldn't come. Maybe I was in shock.

I focused my mind on the only problem I could fix at the moment, though. Where does a newly orphaned girl go when her house, with all her money and possessions and her... mother... is gone?

* * *

><p>ae **So, there's something I should have done a while ago. Give a very, very special thanks to KitKat. First person ever to comment on my story. If any of you who read this have ever written one of these of your own, you know how great it is when someone reviews positively on your story. KitKat, you're awesome. :D**


	14. Chapter 14

I had no money on me, the only option was either to sleep outside, which didn't sound very inviting due to the rain that was slowly turning into a stormy, or finding someone else to let me crash at their place.

Of course I hoped the second option would work out. I tried as best as I could to remember where Eve's house was. By the time I found it I was drenched. I knocked on the door, hoping they were still up. Eventually the door opened, revealing a tired looking Eve.

"Emma! What're you doing here?" She asked, suddenly looking more awake. The she grabbed my arm and dragged me inside. "Why aren't you at home?"

"Something... happened. I can't go back. I tried Jason's first but he's not talking to me, apparently." I said quietly. As long as I didn't say the words out loud, they weren't real. She wsan't really dead.

"You didn't bring anything with you?" She asked, directing me to the kitchen. She put a pot of coffee on.

"I wasn't really able to."

"Come upstairs with me. You need to get into some dry clothes." She said, and headed upstairs. I followed close behind.

Eve's bedroom was exactly what you would expect it to be, goth galore. Not that it wasn't cool, because it totally was. How was I noticing things like this when- No. Not thinking about that.

"Have you spoken to your brother?" I asked while Eve rummaged through her closet.

"Not since we left Common Grounds. You were great, by the way." She said with a smile. "You and Michael should totally do a duet sometime. You guys would sound amazing."

I just nodded in response. Nothing about tonight mattered, except what happened after leaving Common Grounds. While I was busy singing and making out with Richard my house was burning down and my mother... Oh god. My body started shaking again.

I tried calming down before Eve looked up from her closet. I managed too, but just barely.

"Here." She said, handing me a small black t-shirt with a heart with fangs on it and a pair of black satin pajamas. "This is the most normal thing I have. Other than this pink shirt but... I thought this was better."

"It's great." I told her with a small smile. I left her room and went to the bathroom. Thankfully her house was set up just like mine so it was no trouble finding my way around. I put on the clothes and didn't even look in the mirror to see if they looked okay.

I went back into Eve's room when I was done. "Good, they fit." She said. "There's some blankets and stuff in the closet. I'll go get them and you can sleep on the couch, okay?"

I nodded. It was weird to have someone being so nice to me and not even questioning why I wasn't staying at home. I was glad. I really didn't want to talk about it. Ever.

I followed Eve downstairs and laid down once the couch/bed was made. Eve turned off the lights and went upstairs. Sleeping was surprisingly easy. Within minutes I was fast asleep.

I woke up to the sound of the television. I could faintly here the words.

"... fire taking the life of Janie Rainn and her unborn child. Police say that the man living in the house was severely burnt but managed to make it out alive and was now in intensive care." Said the news ladies voice from not far away. "In other news-"

Someone had changed the channel. I opened my eyes and sat up. My back hurt. Couches were not comfortable. Shane was sitting in the chair to my left, watching the TV.

"So," He said, not looking me in the eye. "Is that why you're here?"

"I had nowhere else to go." I said quietly. "Everything's... gone..."

"I know. Trust me." He said, equally quietly.

"God, it's so dark in here." Eve said, coming into the living room. She went to the window and pulled back the curtains. "There we-"

"What the hell is that?" Shane asked suddenly, moving towards the window.

"How's your mommy?" It read in bright red... something.

I stared horrified at the words. "Oh, my god." I said quietly.

Shane got off the couch and went outside. Eve and I watched silently as he scrubbed the letters off the window. When he got back in Eve asked him, "Who would do something like that?"

"I think I know." I said slowly. "And I think that the fire wasn't an accident."

Eve and Shane both looked at me with blank expressions on their faces. I quickly explained to them about the vampire who had stalked me at Jason's house and wrote things on the window.

"Do you know his name?" Shane asked me, looking pissed.

I shook my head. "We could ask Jason? He seen him as well." But I didn't really feel like seeing Jason. Yet I wanted something done about this. someone can't just... people don't just... Someone can't just burn down other people's houses and take everything they loved away from them.

"We should go talk to him." Eve said and stood up. "Shane, you can stay here."

Shane looked like he was going to protest but then decided that it was actually a good idea.

"I'll get my keys." Eve said and left the room.

"I think your brother hates me." I told Eve as we were driving to Jason's.

"Why?" She asked, looking utterly confused.

"I... I don't know." I said sadly.

"Jason's temperamental. He'll get over it. Don't worry." She said with a smile.

"You know, when I went there last night he just... pushed me away." I told her. "Shut his door right in my face."

"Did you tell him what happened?" She asked.

"I didn't have time to..."

Eve bit her lip, looking unsure of whether to say what she was thinking. "Do you want to talk about it?" She finally asked.

I shook my head quickly. "No. Not yet. If i talk about it... it'll just become that more real, you know?"

She nodded. "My dad recently passed. We weren't that close anymore, but he was still my dad, you know?"

I didn't know that. For a second I wondered why Jason never mentioned it, but then I realized that there was no reason for him to discuss things like that with me.

We pulled up in front of Jason's house. I let Eve be the one to knock on the door and held back a little. When he answered he looked like he was in a bad mood.

"What, Eve?" He said sourly.

"Can we come in?" She said, and gestured to both of us.

Jason glared at me, but walked away leaving the door open for us to come in.

Eve and I sat down on the couch but Jason chose to stand. "What do you want?" He asked.

"The name of the vampire that's been stalking Emma. She's too new here to know their names yet." Eve said calmly. It was surprising how calm she was considering Jason's bad mood and my permanant state of shock.

"I don't know it. I haven't really seen him around before." He said slowly. "Why?"

"Because we think he's the one responsible for killing Emma's mother in the fire last night.


	15. Chapter 15

"What?" Jason asked. He looked from me to Eve then back again, a bewildered look on his face. "What're you talking about?"

I didn't asnwer. Eve did. "Why do you think she came here last night?" Eve asked, momentarily glaring at her brother. "You didn't even _ask_."

"How was I supposed to know that?" He asked angrily. "All I knew was that she was busy locking lips with Richard. I didn't want to know why she came to see me."

Suddenly Eve turned to face me. "You were kissing _Richard_?" She said, looking shocked. "I did not see that one coming."

"Neither did I." Jason angrily said.

"That's really besides the point right now." Eve said, cutting me off before I could retort. "Someone is trying to get to Emma. Almost did."

"But got to ... my... my mom instead." I said quietly. "It's all my fault she's dead."

"No, it's not. But we're going to find out who's fault it _is_." Eve said quickly.

I didnt' feel like finding out who did this. All I felt like doing was going back to New York. To our beautiful appartment, before mom ever met Darrel and got pregnant and moved us to this horrible town.

Things could never go back to that. Ever. Even if Darrel was out of the picture, mom was still... gone. She'd never come back. Neither would my normal life.

My head started to spin and my body felt shaky. I slowly leaned over and put my head on the couch. My eyes closed and I stopped listening to what was going on around me. I stopped _feeling_ what was around me. 

I was completely withdrawn from everything, including myself.

When the outside world is gone, nothing matters anymore. Not your dead parents, your friends, your house. Even your life. It's peaceful. Almost like sleeping, yet you were aware of everything and nothing at all.

Just when I was starting to think that this was something like what dying would be like, I heard voices. Or a voice. Who knows. I didn't want to hear anything. I just wanted to be alone in my little peaceful state where nothing could touch me.

Yet something did touch me. I felt it. I didn't want that. I pushed away the thing touching me but then the contact with whatever it was bothered me too.

I didn't want to go back to the world. Yet I had no choice. Slowly my eyes opened. The brightness of everything around me overwhelmed my senses. I closed them again, then blinked them back open.

Jason. Jason was waking me up.

"Emma, are you okay?" He asked frantically.

"Mmmm." I mummbled. " 's fine. I'm okay."

"Eve!" He shouted. "She's awake!"

"What happened?" I asked.

"I think you passed out." He said quietly. "It was freaky. One minute you were there and the next it was like you were sleeping, but you were barely breathing. We've been trying to wake you for about an hour now."

An hour? It felt like minutes, but also like years. My back ached.

"She probably needs sugar!" Eve called. "But you don't have_ anything_, Jason. How do you _live_ like this?"

"I'm okay." I said again, but more firmly this time. "I just... want to sleep."

"Alright. We'll bring you upstairs and Eve can go out and get you something to eat for when you wake up, okay?" Jason said. He looked both worried and sympathetic at the same time.

"You don't have to do this." I said quietly. "Just because... just because of what happened. You don't have to pretend that you like me."

Anger crossed Jason's face. "You think-" He started angrily, then stopped. "Never mind. Let's just get you upstairs."

I stood up, a little shaky, but still able to. Jason followed behind me as I headed upstairs to his bed. I laid down and he shut off the lights for me. Then he went back downstairs.

I could faintly hear Eve and Jason talking, but I couldn't distinguish any of the words. Before Eve left I heard her shout to Jason, though.

"You better go sit up there with her!"

I heard the front door close and steps on the stairs. I was trying to sleep but having trouble. The second Jason entered the room, though, I closed my eyes and preteneded to be asleep. I didn't want to be questioned about anything.

Jason walked over to the bed and laid down beside me.

"You're a terrible faker." He told me.

My eyes flicked back open. "I am not." I said stubbornly. "You just woke me up is all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jason asked quietly, not looking me in the eyes.

"No, I really don't." I said. My voice broke on the word don't. I couldn't cry right after it happened. I couldn't cry last night before bed. I couldn't cry this morning after the news. I couldn't cry about it at all.

Yet here I was, tears sliding down my face in front of _Jason_, of all people. I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs.

"Did you know she was pregnant?" I asked as the tears slid down my face. Jason shook his head. "Well she was. But now that babies gone too. Everything is gone. I have nothing left."

The tears were falling faster now, and my body was shaking. Jason pushed back a piece of hair from my face.

"That's not true." He said, and leaned forwards "You still have-"

"I'm back." Eve said, walking into the room. Jason pulled away from me quickly.


	16. Chapter 16

"Was I interrupting something?" Eve asked, looking between Jason and I.

Was she? I wasn't sure. It seemed like Jason was going to kiss me but- "Definitely not." He said, sounding annoyed. Well, I guess he _wasn't_ going to kiss me.

"All right." Said Eve slowly. "I'm going to go downstairs to make food."

Jason and I both nodded at her. I couldn't get the feeling that something more was going to happen between Jason and I. I had to ask him. "A minute ago... were you going to kiss me?" I asked.

"Me? Kiss you?" He repeated. The way he said it made me sound as if I'd lost my mind. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm _really_ not interested in you that way? You're not my type. At all."

"Good!" I shouted angrily. "Because I prefer guys like Richard, anyways."

The second the words were out of my mouth I regretted them. The look of hurt that crossed Jason's face was instantly replaced with anger.

"Whatever." He said, opening the door and stepping into the hall. "Go to sleep. I'll bring you food up when you get up."

I angrily turned over and shut my eyes. Mixed signals. That's all that Jason ever sent me. Who wanted a guy who never gave you a straight answer, or told you how he was _actually_ feeling? Or who was only nice to you 15% of the time?

I finally fell asleep and dreamed of burning houses, and crisped corpses. Of evil faces, grinning at me in the darkness.

I awoke, shaking and drenched with sweat. I peeled off the t-shirt I was wearing, thankful that it was all a dream. That I was really just asleep at my beautiful apartment back in New York. In my comfy bed.

I rolled over, deciding that I was still tired. I just hoped that I didn't have anymore nightmares. This time I fell asleep and didn't have any dreams. I was thankful for that.

When I awoke someone was in my room. My eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet, but it had to be mom.

"Mom?" I called out quietly. I was exhausted still, no matter how much sleep I had had. "What do you want? I'm sleeping..."

"Emma, it's Jason." Came a male voice to my right. I bolted upright.

"Wha-" I was about to scream for help before everything came flooding back to me. The nightmare that wasn't actually a nightmare, but a reality. The fact that I was sleeping in Jason's room instead of my old one.

The fact that my mother wasn't alive anymore.

"Shit." I muttered. "I thought... I thought it was a dream."

"Do you usually strip in your sleep?" Jason asked, laughter in his voice.

I looked over to see him holding the shirt that Eve had lent me. I looked down. All I was wearing my my purple bra. I quickly pulled the covers over myself. I felt a blush creeping into my cheeks.

"I checked on you a couple times." Jason said, handing me the shirt. He turned around as I put it back on. "The first couple times you were tossing and crying. I tried to wake you. Then I came back and you were smiling. Must have been some dream."

"I thought I was back. In New York." I said sadly. I sighed. "I'm so tired."

I really was. All the sadness and grief I was feeling came down hard on me, making me feel exhausted.

"Go back to bed, then." Jason told me.

Suddenly I felt scared. "I can't. I don't... I don't want to see those things again." I shuddered.

"There's no use staying up. You're going to have to sleep eventually. No point in wearing yourself out." Jason said. His tone changed. He didn't sound friendly anymore. He sounded closed off. The way he usually was.

"You're right." I said. "But... stay with me."

I hadn't really meant to say that. Really. I hoped he hadn't heard. I closed my eyes to hide my embarrassment.

I expected some kind of angry, or smart-ass reply. Instead, Jason stayed quiet. He walked over to the other side of the bed and laid down beside me.

"Fine." He said after settling down. "But don't touch me."

I staid on my half of the bed, far enough away from Jason that we both had space to move around without getting near each other. Not long after, I was asleep again.

I woke up to Jason telling me not to touch him. I realized that I had curled up to him in the middle of sleeping. I pulled back quickly.

"Sorry." I mumbled, feeling like an idiot. Jason started shuffling around.

It was then that I realized that he was still asleep. He hadn't really been talking to me.

"Stay away from me." He said quietly. I expected his voice to be angry, but instead it sounded scared. "Leave me alone. Leave me alone!"

I quickly nudged his arm, trying to awaken him. "Please don't." He muttered. "Please."

I nudged him harder. I wanted to get him away from whatever was coming after him in his sleep. Suddenly he bolted upright, panting. There was sweat on his forhead.

Jason noticed me sitting beside him and jumped out of bed.

"Stay away from-" He stopped suddenly. "Emma."

"Are you okay?" I asked, keeping my voice low and gentle.

"I'm fine." He said harshly. "Bad dream."

"Sometimes it helps if you talk about." I said softly. "What was it about?"

"Nothing!" He shouted. Then he lowered his voice. "Nothing."

Something in his face looked tortured. He wasn't looking at me anymore. Instead he seemed to be seeing something far away, that no one else could. He shuddered once.

He sat on the edge of the bed. I sat up and sat beside him. "Everything just so fucked up." He said quickly.

I laid a hand on his harm. He jerked it off immediately. "Don't." He said angrily. "Don't touch me."

I jerked my arm away. "What's so fucked up?" I asked. I didn't want to set him off again, but something was genuinely bothering him.

He laughed bitterly. "Life." Was what he replied with.

"I know what you mean." I said after a moment of silence.

"No, you don't." He said, standing up. "Your mother probably loved you. Would do anything for you."

"You mother probably loves you to, Jason." I said softly.

"You don't know her. She'd do anything to get ahead in this stupid fucking town." His voice was filled with pain and anger. "Turn a blind eye to things that she should have been stopping. A mother is supposed to protect her kids, not set them up for predators!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." I said quickly, realizing I was probably pushing a boundary.

"You really want to know?" He asked, suddenly looking manic. I nodded.

"We used to have this protector, Brandon." He laughed, but it wasn't a nice sound. "He was a creepy guy. Our parents didn't care, though. All they cared about was the shiny bracelet they got from him."

"When he started trying things with Eve, she freaked out. Told him where to shove his protection and moved out. I staid. I didn't fully understand at the time." He spoke so softly I could barely hear him, yet the anger and disgust in his tone was very clear. "But when he started coming to me at night... trying things... I finally realized why Eve left."

"I told my parents." Jason said, and paused. He looked lost in thought for a moment. Then he continued. "All they said was, 'Don't you want to help protect us? Just do what ever he says, honey. It's okay.'" Another bitter laugh. "For a year, I endured it. For a year I let that bastard molest me."

I took in a shocked intake of breath. "Why didn't I leave? I thought it was normal. I thought maybe this was how everything happened around here. And my parents... they wouldn't stand for me stopping it. They were too afraid of what would happen. I told them a million times that I didn't want to, but they just ignored me and pretended that it was all in my head, that nothing was going on."

It explained a lot. It explained why he was so closed off. Why he was so angry when people tried to get close to him. Something like that... something like that permanently scarred someone.

"I'm so sorry." I said. I realized how lame and worthless those words were, yet I couldn't help but say them.

"Your words don't make up for other peoples actions, Emma." He said, his voice ragged and angry. Yet there was a broken sound to it.

"Not everyone's going to hurt you, Jason." I said, standing up. I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. This time he didn't shrug it off. Instead he leaned into it, looking suddenly broken and lost, like a child.

"How do you know?" He asked. "Isn't it best to be careful and stay away from people who can hurt you instead?"

"No." I said firmly, shaking my head. "If you do that, you miss out on all the people who can help you."

"You want to help me?" He asked quietly.

"I do." I replied softly.

Jason bent his head close to mine. I closed my eyes and tilted my face upwards, towards his. His lips crushed into mine. Not at all soft, the way Richard has kissed me. This was more intense, more emotional. This was a kiss that meant something more, and touched me in places I didn't know a kiss could reach.

Jason pulled back. Instead of letting him, I kissed him this time. I wrapped my arms around his neck. His found there way around my waist and he steered me towards the bed.

The kiss got more intense as my mouth parted and our tongues met. My body felt hot all over. Not in a bad way, more like coming inside after a cold winter day and sitting by the fire. It was amazing.

My lips tingled as he pulled away slightly and lowered me onto the bed. Suddenly Jason was on top of me, kissing me with a hunger that couldn't be satiated. He made a low, growling sound in the back of his throat.

My fingers found the hem of his shirt and tugged it upwards. He moved so that I could pull it over his head. God, he was gorgeous. Suddenly his lips found my neck and I moaned quietly. I hadn't meant to but it felt so _good_.

But we were going so fast... I'd only kissed two other boys in my life, and none of them had been like this. This urgent need burning through my body, every sense tingling as his lips trailed down my throat.

"Jason." I said suddenly. "We- we need to- we need to stop."

"Mmm?" Jason mumbled, his lips coming back up to mine.

"We need to stop." I said, more firmly this time. "We don't want to get carried away."

A look of rejection crossed his face, but was immediately covered by a cocky smile. "Yeah, you're right. I'm pretty tired, anyways." He said, and rolled off me. "I'm going back to bed."

"Night." I muttered quietly. Things had changed from cold, to hot, to cold again. I rolled away from him and shut my eyes too.

I woke up to Jason getting out of bed. He was pulling on his shirt as I sat up.

"Good, you're awake." He said, but the way he said it didn't sound as if he actually thought it was good.

"Good morning to you too." I said, rubbing the sleep out my eyes.

Jason walked towards the door. "I'm going out." He said. He paused, then continued. "And I want you out of here before I get back."

"What?" I asked, startled.

"I mean it, Emma. I don't want you here again." He said, and looked away from me. "You don't want to be here when I get back."

"Or else what?" I asked, anger in my voice. I felt like crying all of a sudden. Why was he being like this?

Jason flashed me a cruel smile. "You don't get a reputation like mine for nothing." And then he walked out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was so fun, yet so horrible, to write. I'm sure any of you that have followed, and enjoy, the story are like, "WTF?" right now. I know, I know. But you can't have a happy ending halfway through the story! Where's the fun in that? :)<strong>

**Also, Review, people! To those of you who frequently review, KitKat and Dark Angel, you guys are amazing. :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**I feel like mostly all the other chapters have just been leading up to this part. I'm so glad to finally have this one out. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

><p>After leaving Jason's in a hurry, I walked around town looking for a cheap thrift shop. I had a credit card. That was it. Only because I never left the house without it. I couldn't spend much money, but I needed something to wear. I felt icky, and needed something new to put on, other than Eve's clothes.<p>

My heart felt numb. I'd never thought someone could live feeling completely void of emotion, yet I was a walking slab of proof that that wasn't true. How could so many things get ripped away from me in two small days? And, on top of that, how was I expected to go to work after that?

Yet that's where I was headed after I found something to wear. One thing I did not want to do was piss off Oliver by not showing up. For some reason, he didn't seem like the kind of person to fire a disobedient employee. He seemed like the type to take things into his own hands.

Eventually I found a small little store that had a few cute outfits on display in the window. I opened the door and stepped into the air conditioned store.

"Can I help you with anything?" Said that lady behind the counter.

"I need something to wear." I told her. The deadpan sound of my voice should have worried me, but instead I felt nothing.

"I think I've got something that'll look perfect on you." She said with a large smile. She led me over to a rack of dresses.

She pulled out a beautiful, yet casual, white dress. It was knee length, and had when I tried it on, and instantly felt that the dress looked so off with how I felt. It looked great on me, I admitted, but it made me look pure, almost the way you would expect and angel to feel.

Yet the face ruined the look. My face looked dead. Like I was alive but not really _there_.

I didn't care. It was something to wear, and it was cheap, from the numbers on the price tag. Before, I would have been amazed to get this dress for only ten dollars. Now, I didn't care. It didn't excite me at all.

The lady smiled even more broadly when I left the small change room.

"It looks just as beautiful on you as I thought it would." She said.

I just nodded and paid for the dress. I put Eve's clothes in the bag from the store and headed to work. I put the bag in the back. I was the only one here today. I was the one opening the store.

Normally I would have smiled and been friendly to my costumers. Today, I didn't smile. I just mechanically made the drinks and took the money. A few of the people who's names I'd picked up because they were regulars at Common Grounds eyed me weirdly.

Probably wondering what was wrong with me.

Well, that list was a mile long and didn't look like it was getting shorter any time soon. Eventually a new person came in. I'd never seen her before, but that wasn't that surprising. Someone as new to Morganville as I was was sure to not know everyone's name, no matter how small this town was.

She walked up to the counter with a large smile on her face. I didn't return it.

"You're Emma, right?" She said. She had an accent. Probably French. I didn't really think into it too much. I didn't really care, to be honest.

"Mmm." I replied. "What do you want?"

"Nice service they have here." She said, still smiling, but with a frown forming on her face. "I don't want anything to drink."

"Then why are you _here_?" I asked. I would probably get fired for this attitude. Or worse. And I didn't care. I really didn't.

"Amelie sent me." She said quietly. "She's already spoken to Oliver. He said it's alright for you to shut down the shop. It's important that you speak to Amelie immediately."

"Fine." I said, and pulled off my apron. "We're closed!"

Everyone who had been sitting down up at a table looked up in surprise. "That means it's time to _leave_!" I called. I went into the back room and locked the back door. Once everyone was out, I went to the front door with the random girl who Amelie sent. I locked the door behind me.

She quickly ran into the tinted car outside. Vampire. Definitely. There's no way any normal person could drive in a car with windows that tinted.

Should I get into a car with a random vampire? Probably not. But than again Amelie sent her, so she had to be safe. And either way, I wasn't in any real danger. No one could take anything else away from me. There wasn't anything _left_ to take.

She pulled away from Common Grounds. I expected her to be heading towards Founders Square, but instead she went in the opposite direction. Soon enough we were on the out skirts of town, but we hadn't actually _left_ Morganville. We were still technically in town.

She turned off onto a side road and eventually we pulled up in front of a small, metal looking shack.

"Where are we?" I asked. "I can't see Amelie wanting to talk to me here."

"She's in there. Come on." The girl said, and started walking towards the building.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Kat." She replied.

She pulled out a large key and slipped it into the lock. "There's no other way to get in. Can't break into this place. It's like the perfect hide out. Or jail cell." She said with a cruel smile.

For a second my heart raced. The numbing inside me melted for a second and I felt genuine fear. I was claustrophobic. I didn't like small places like that, especially ones I could get locked in.

Kat smiled reassuringly, and all those thoughts ended immediately. My heart frosted over again.

We walking inside and Kat shut the door behind us. There was a set of stairs in the shack that led into a basement room. We couldn't enter that without a key. Kat had on for this door, too. She held the door open for me. It looked heavy.

Then we were in another small room. This one had a giant glass box in it, with a small casket inside.

"Where's Amelie?" I asked quietly.

Kat turned to me, that cruel smile in her face again. "I lied." She said flippantly. "But that's besides the point. Amelie can't offer you the things we can offer you."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I knew I should be worried. And I probably should have been looking for a way out, but that large door that Kat had held open for me didn't seem like an option. There was no way I was going to be able to hold that open, let alone open it fast enough to run away from a _vampire_.

That was the only option. All hope was gone. And I didn't care.

"I mean that my master is much more powerful than Amelie. Well, he will be, once you fulfill your duty." She said, and took out her keys again. This time she slipped it into the small keyhole in the glass box. She lifted the lid on the casket.

I normally would have shuddered at the sight of the old, dead, partially decayed body. Yet I didn't. I just stared at it with a small amount of interest and a small amount of boredom.

The way Kat had taken the lid of the casket, I would have expected something a little _more_ than just a dead body. Yet that's all there was.

She smiled, looking like she'd just found the most precious jewel that would make her millions of dollars.

"I know that you know what you are." She said, and gestured for me to follow her into the glass box. I didn't move. "I know that you're Bishops daughter. And so do you. Yet do you know yet why you're even here?"

I shook my head.

"A long time ago Bishop infected Amelie's little vampires, and Amelie, with a disease. It affected their brains badly, and made them slowly go insane. Bishop had the cure for it of course. Because Bishop _created_ it. But not to destroy Amelie and Morganville. That was only the added bonus. The disease was actually a mistake. One of many failed attempts at what Bishop was trying to do." She said, and gently caressed the cheek of the dead guy.

"He was trying to make himself human." She said. "No, he didn't miss being human. It was something more practical than that. He wanted another child."

Ice ran through my veins. She hadn't said anything terrible, yet for some reason I started to feel scared.

"And he managed it, of course. You're living, well, mostly, proof. Yet he hadn't exactly made himself human. Which, in the end, he admitted was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be able to conceive a child that was part vampire, part human. Once that was done, he took the antidote to become a vampire again." She paused, making sure I was following. "He did this because, though extremely powerful, Bishop was a paranoid man. He worried that some how his plans would fail. And he was right. Amelie destroyed him, and left him down here to rot."

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked, suddenly backing away from Kat. She had a look in her eyes that frightened me.

"This has everything to do with you, stupid girl." She said, and suddenly she was beside me, gabbing my arm. She pulled me into the box with the dead man. "You see, when a vampire dies, he's turns into something other than a human, but also something other than a vampire, even though he's dead. That's why you can't bring back a dead vampire. If it had been a human, it could be possible, though difficult."

"So Bishop worked for years on a formula that would allow someone to bring a vampire back from the dead. Yet he couldn't find one. A vampire most definitely couldn't do it. And you can't turn a dead person into a living human."

"Yet he realized that you can bring a dead vampire back to life if the person changing them was half human and half vampire. I don't know all the details to it, nor do I understand how it all works. Yet one thing he explained to me was clear. If he was to fail, I was to find his second daughter, you, and bring you to him."

"He said that you were the only thing that could bring him back." She finished, and then pulled out a long, thin knife and sliced open my arm. She pulled it to Bishops mouth.

I didn't scream. Not because I didn't want to, trust me, I did, but because I realized that it would be foolish. No one would here me in this small shack in the middle of nowhere.

I tried to fight her. Bishop had been evil. Eve and Jason had both made that clear. As numb as I felt on the inside, I just could not take part in bringing this horrible man back.

Yet fighting her was pointless. Kat held me firmly, unyielding.

And then I finally screamed. Something had slid into my arm. Something painful and terrible. I looked down to see the dead man, who I now understood to be Bishop, biting my arm.

He was alive.

He looked terrible, all skin pulled tightly over bones. Yet his eyes had opened. They shinned red, and looked immensely cruel. He held on to my arm until I started wobbling. I felt faint. This was at least twice the amount of blood that Myrnin had taken from me. I couldn't stand up anymore. I fell to the ground and Bishop released me.

Kat dropped to her knees. "Master." She said, lowering her head.

"Thank you, Katherina. You will be rewarded for this." Bishop said. His voice sounded ragged. He sounded like a dying man. "I need more blood. Human, this time. Hers will only bring me back, yet it won't sustain me. I will stay here until you get back."

Kat stood up. "Should I bring the girl?" She asked.

"No." He said firmly. "We can't risk her exposing us. Yet I'm sure you have a plan for that as well, right? A reason for her to be quiet?"

"Of course. But it's not here. He's somewhere safe... for now. Unless she does something that displeases you." Kat replied. The way she spoke to Bishop sounded the way someone desperately in love would talk to their lover. So eager to please and filled with yearning.

"He?" Bishop asked, looking mildly interesting. "My dear daughter, aren't you too young for boyfriends?"

"Apparently not. And she sure knows how to pick them." Kat said with a cruel smile.

Jason. They had Jason. And if I didn't comply, they would _kill_ him.

"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly. My voice was much softer than I had expected. I didn't have much energy left.

"You'll see." Bishop said cruelly. And then I passed out.

* * *

><p>So, what'd you think? REVIEW and tell me. :D Also, I'm getting Bite Club in two days. I absolutely <em>can<em>not wait. So excited. Just felt like sharing that.


	18. Chapter 18

"Here?" I asked, as Kat, Bishop, and I pulled up infront of a small, run down little house. It was still on the outskirts of town. "Why don't you leave Morganville?"

"We can't leave." Kat said, looking at me as if I was a moron. "There's wards up all around the city. We leave, they realize Bishop isn't as dead as they had believed."

I nodded, finally understanding.

"We won't be staying here long. Just until I get well enough to pull a full force attack on Amelie. And until my army is complete." Bishop said. He looked better now, not so... dead. Probably because of the person he _ate_.

Well, not exactly ate. Just... you know, killed. Drained. Whatever. And yes, it was as freaky as it sounds.

I had the pleasure of watching the whole thing. Kat brought the man in, he was probably in about his thirties or fourties. He squirmed and fought Kat, but it was a feble attempt. Kat had passed the guy to Bishop, who tipped the guys head gently to the side and then opened his mouth and bit him.

I screamed and ran at Bishop and the man, but Kat reached out and pulled me back, slamming me against the wall. I watched in silence as the man struggled, then eventually went lip. It wasn't as frightening once the guy was dead. Bishop dropped him to the floor and he peacefully lay there, his eyes closed.

Death was probably better than living with Kat and Bishop here, anyways. They seemed like the kind of cruel people who would have tortured him just for the fun of it.

"Now, be a good little girl and go inside." Kat said, pushing me through the door. "You're expendable. We're not."

Bishop grabbed my shirt and pulled me back outside.

"You go in first and survey the place, Kat." Bishop said, giving her a hard, demanding look. "She may be a foolish child, but she is much less expendable than you are."

"Excuse me?" Kat asked. She didn't look angry, just insulted. "She is _not_ more important than _me_! I was the one who brought you back. _I _was the one who was your faithful servant. What has she ever done for you?"

"You didn't bring me back. You _can't_. And should I fail, this girl will be the only one who _can_ bring me back. So don't, for even a second, think that you are more faluable than her." Bishop said, and then he gave me a smile. "We'll go inside in a moment, Emma."

"All clear." Kat yelled. She sounded peeved.

Bishop entered the small house then, with me in tow.

"Where is he?" I asked the second I entered. I looked inside the first door I saw. "Tell me!"

"We'll let you see him, in time." Bishop said. "But for now, I cannot trust you. You have done me a great deed but I am aware that you weren't willing. When you show me your loyalty I will allow you to see him, but I will not, under any circumstances, free him."

"Ever?" I asked, my eyes widening.

Bishop nodded. "The second I release that boy I release my hold on you. I cannot afford for that to happen."

"What if I don't care what you do to him?"I said suddenly. It was a bluff, but I had to try.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a terrible liar?" Bishop asked. "Your feelings for this boy show all over your face."

Jason would the rest of his life in a prison. Maybe not an _actual_ prison, but that was probably a possiblity as well. Who knows where they had him? And he would never get to see Eve again, or maybe even the sun again. And it was all my fault.

All of it.

"Kat. You and the girl go into town. We'll need some things, given her humanity. Food. Drinks. Clothing."

"I don't have any clothes. Not really, just this." I said, looking down at the now bloody dress. I looked up at Kat. Suddenly, all the rage I had kept in for days, since Barrel hit me, my mom died and Jason... left me. I slapped her, hard. "You _bitch_! I _loved_ this dress!"

I had, now that I seen it ruined. I may not have been very interested in it before, but now that my emotions were back full swing, I was _furious_.

"You little-"

"Calm down, Kat." Bishop said calmly, lifting his hand as if ordering her to stop. She did.

"I can't just _hit_ her?" Kat asked angrily. She took a step towards me, hand raised. I just stared her down. "It won't kill her, she'll still be able to fufill her duties."

"Yes, but in order for people not to notice her absense, we need her to go to work, if she has a job, and attend school." Bishop said. "People will ask questions if she's got bruises."

"No, probably not." I said. I realized that if I gave Kat the chance to hit me, she would. But I didn't care. I _wanted_ her to hit me. That way I could have a justified reason for kicking the shit out of her. "People are used to me having bruises. At least, the ones who would _notice_ the bruses. And there's a fault in your little plan. Unless you let me go home, my mother will notice me missing."

"Don't lie, child. It will only anger me farther." Kat said, giving me a cruel smile. "You think that just because I'm a vampire that I don't watch the news?"

I stiffened. There went the only plan I had. I clenched my jaw to keep from yelling at her.

"Let's go shopping." Kat said. She grabbed a small purse off the coat hanger in the front of the little house.

It had been days. _Days_ of me living with Bishop and Kat. Two other vampires had stopped by. Normally they would have scared me, but after the first day, my emotions disapeared again. I stopped feeling and just did what I was told. I was a good little lap dog, but it wasn't as if I had a choice. If I disbehaved, or showed any sign of informing someone about my situation, Jason would be dead. I couldn't lose him, too, even if I never really had him in the first place.

The two vampires had eyed me, looking at me like I was lunch. It was creepy. Instead of shying away from them, though, I stared them down, almost beconing them to try something.

I had work today. I was dressed in clothes. I didn't really know if they matched or not, I hadn't paid any attention. Why would it matter? Why decorate a shell if there's nothing inside to appreciate it? They could have put me in a plastic bag for all I cared.

I walked to the car with kat in tow. She opened the front door and I got in the back. I was never allowed to drive. She thought I was risk trying to drive into a building or something.

We arrived at Common Grounds. Oliver was there today, which meant that Kat would spend her time in the car, instead of in the front room watching me. She said Oliver couldn't know about it. He knew she was in town, but if he knew that she was hanging around with a human he would get suspicious.

"Hello, Emma." Oliver said as I walked in. Kat had informed me that the only reason he was so nice to me was because I looked like Amelie, before she turned all professional. She said that before Amelie was a little wild, though she was always controlled as well.

I nodded to him and plastered a fake smile on my face as my first cosutmer walked in. I wasn't paying attention to what she was chattering on about. My eyes were busy looking outside as a guy dressed in all black and a leather jacket walked by. I could only see the side of his face, but I knew.

I jumped over the counter, running out the door and leaving Oliver's shouts behind me.

I was almost to Jason when Kat jumped out of the car and grabbed my wrist. I stared down at her, anger bubbling over inside me.

"You lied." I stated. "You don't have Jason."

"I never said I did." She said, and for a sudden looked puzzled. "Oh, I get it. Richard was the guy on side."

"What?" I asked, my turn to be confused. "You have... you have Richard?"

"Yes, but it seems that he's not the one I need. Get in the car." She said, and opened the door and pushed me in. "This will only take a second."

I didn't sit. I knew I had to be careful. I couldn't disobey Bishop still, because even though they didn't have Jason, they did have Richard. Richard meant something to me too, and I still had to keep him safe. But I couldn't let her have Jason too.

"Jason!" I yelled. Kat wasn't near enough to him yet, but at her speed, she'd be on him in less than thirty seconds.

Jason turned around and spotted me. For a second his face seemed to light up, but then his mouth dropped into an angry frown and he started to turn around. "Jason, run!" I shouted, running towards Kat. How had he not noticed her, coming for him?

Suddenly he did, and he took of at a quick run. He was faster than I expected. Yet human speed was nothing compared to that of a vampire, and Kat was on him in seconds.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled, catching up to the two of them. I jumped on Kat and attempted to attack her.

Weirdly enough, even though we were in the middle of the sidewalk in the bright of day, no one stopped to help. Not one person. They all just kept their eyes down and crossed the road before they got to close to us.

Kat turned around and back handed me, hard. I fell flat on my back. But I sprang right back up and started attacking her again. Jason was struggling beneath her.

"Let him go! I don't care about him! If you think that _he_ is going to make me obey you, you're wrong. He means nothing." I said, keeping my voice low and flat, the way it had been for days. Resigned.

"Really?" She asked. "We'll see."

And then suddenly I was thrown off her and she picked Jason up, though he struggled. She threw him in the car, the front seat, and then grabbed me and put me in the back.

"What the hell is going on?" Jason asked. Kat had locked the doors. "Emma?"

I didn't look at him. I couldn't. It hurt too much. And plus, if I could convince Kat that I really dind't care about him at all she'd release him. Right?

She drove the car towards the small house. When we pulled up infront, she didn't let us out.

"So you really don't care about him?" Kat asked. I nodded. She gave Jason a cruel smile. " Give me your arm."

Jason didn't move. Kat grabbed it. "You really should have just obeyed, now things are going to get even worse." She said, and her smile switched to one filled with cruelty. She dug her finger nails into his arm. Blood seeped from the wounds.

I didn't react. Not on the outside, at least. On the inside, I was screaming. Jason's eyes widened in pain, but he never cried out. He sat there with an angry look on his face, as if he was comtemplating cutting Kat up into little peices.

"Nothing?" She asked. "Your lies aren't really helping him, Emma." And then she bit him.

The rage inside me was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Jason was _mine_ and she was not going to take a single sip of his blood. I jumped at her. The car was a small place to be fighting, but I didn't care.

My nails sliced down Kat's face, a trail of blood left in the path of them. "Run!" I growled at Jason.

He tried the handle on the door. "It's locked!" He yelled.

That was the last thing I remembered, before Kat kicked me in the face so hard that I saw stars, then passed out.


	19. Chapter 19

"What the-?" I sat up suddenly. I was very uncomfortable. I wondered how I'd even managed to fall a sleep in such an uncomfortable spot.

I looked around. It was dark, but there was a small amount of light coming from a crack in a door. Instinctively, I walked over to the door and tugged on it. "Damn it." I muttered. I tried pulling harder.

"It's not going to work. Trust me." Came a voice from a dark corner. The light didn't reach that far. I backed against the wall, frightened. I was locked in a room with someone I couldn't see. A _male_ someone.

"Who- who's there?" I asked. I tried to sound calm and fearless, but I failed.

"Emma?" The voice asked. How did he know my name? "It's Richard."

"Oh, god, Richard!" I said, and threw myself at the shadows where he sat. He wrapped his arms around me. "I'm so glad you're okay. And I'm so sorry that you're here. It's all my fault."

Richard pushed a strand of hair back from my face. I had no idea how he saw it, in this dim light, but he did. "It's not your fault. I don't blame you at all." He said, and soothingly rubbed my back.

"But, wait... what about Jason?" I asked, standing up again. "Did they bring him in? Or did... did she... Kat. She was trying to-"

"I'm fine." Came a voice from the other corner. I looked over towards is and squinted. Jason.

I would have launched myself at him, too, but suddenly everything felt awkward. Being locked in a strange room forgotten, I realized that I had given both Richard _and_ Jason much reason to think I was interested in them both. Which I was. I think.

But Jason didn't actually care, anyways, right? It's not like he expected me to be with him, not after what he said.

"I need to get out of here." I said, and started pacing. "There's no way out, obviously, but they have to _feed_ us, right?"

"Yes." Richard replied.

"How long have you been in here?" I asked him.

"Since that night that you sang at Common Grounds. Right after I dropped you off I was attacked." He answered.

"And no one's been looking for you? You're the mayor!" I said, shocked.

"Everyone thinks I went to some conference. I was supposed to, but I decided it'd be more fun to hang out in a dark room and play prisoner." He said bitterly.

"Do you know when they feed us? And who does it?" I asked, suddenly coming up with a plan.

"Kat usually comes in, but I have no idea how to tell when her next visit will be. Not really any ways to gauge time in here." He said.

Voices outside the door caught my attention. I shushed everyone.

"She's getting stronger." Kat said angrily. I must have really hurt her when I scratched her. "If you're not careful, she might figure out her full potential before you can stop her."

"I have her completely under my control, thank you. Do you really think that I can't control one little human child?" Bishop asked, his voice full of scorn.

"But that's the problem!" Kat shouted. Her anger was making her carelessly loud. "She's _not_ human. You made sure of that! And once she feeds, she's going to be much more than just half a vampire. And she'll be strong. Maybe even stronger than Amelie. You know that!"

Feeds? Once I _what_?"

Bishop laughed. It held no humor or joy in it. "You know she's pathetically good. Do you honestly believe that even if she had the urge, she would actually feed from someone?" He paused, and I imagined Kat was wildly shaking her head. "Exactly. There's nothing to fear."

"Fine." Kat snapped. "But next time you want someone to drive her around town, I'm not doing it. Do you see these scratches? They're not healing! That shouldn't even be possible. You made a freak. And she's strong enough to get you back for that."

"How dare you talk to me like that." Bishop said. He didn't shout, but calmly spoke. "If you ever treat me as if I am less intelligent than you again, I would be sure to teach you that you are very, very wrong."

I shuddered. The menace in his voice, even though it wasn't even directed at me, was frightening.

"That's it, then." Jason said. Richard and I pushed away from the door.

"What's it?" Richard asked. He sounded annoyed at Jason, but also curious.

"We'll have to give her our blood. It's the only way any of us will make it out of here." Jason said, his tone implying that Richard was obviously an idiot.

"I can't. I can't do that." I said, a knot in my stomach. "Blood makes me sick."

"But you're part vampire. It won't taste like blood, it will taste... well, I'm not sure, exactly." Richard said, getting on board with Jason's idea. "Do you want to save us?"

I nodded. Of course I did. It was my fault they were in here, and I _would_ get them out. But I couldn't do it. I just couldn't.

"I never said you had a choice." Jason said darkly. I felt him move beside me. He slipped something out of his sock. It reflected the little light in the room.

"You've had that this whole time? Why didn't you _use _it?" Richard asked suddenly.

"Because it won't do anything against them. You should know that by now." Jason said. He touched the blade to his wrist.

"Don't!" I shouted. I pushed the knife away, but Jason fought me at the same time, and I ended up slicing it into him. A thin line of blood appeared on his wrist.

I watched, mesmerized, at a single line of it dripped from the wound to the floor. "Are you okay?" I asked, not taking my eyes off his wrist. I knew I should look for something to cover the wound with, but I didn't move. Couldn't move.

"I'm telling you to do this, Emma. It won't hurt me." He said, but I could tell he was lying. I knew it would hurt him. And I just _couldn't_.

Something small inside me asked why that was so impossible. It _was_ in my blood, right? And I'd be doing it to save everyone. I _had_ to save them, and only I could do it.

I took Jason's arm and lifted his dripping wrist up to my mouth. I hesitated. So gross. So gross, I though, while I put my mouth over the wound. Was I supposed to bite? Isn't that what vampires did? But he was already bleeding, so that seemed pointless. Instead, I just ran my tongue over the bleeding line.

It didn't taste horrible. It was slightly sweet, but salty. Not coppery the way your own blood tastes when you bite your tongue. Part of me was repulsed, but a large part started sucking more blood out of the wound. I shut down at the point. I stopped paying attention to what I as doing and pictured shopping with my mother in New York. We picked out a lot of pretty dressed and shoes. I loved shopping with my mom. I pictured our old apartment, and the way we had sat on the couch eating ice cream after mom had a break up with one of her ex's.

Suddenly something pulled me back to reality. Richard. He had my arm and was dragging me away from Jason.

Jason was lying limp on the floor. I couldn't see his chest moving in the dim light.

Oh, god. I'd killed Jason.

* * *

><p>Short chapter, but there will be another one coming soon.<p>

I think this story will probably have a maximum of 25 chapter. Possibly more, but not sure. I might do a sequel, but first I really want to do a fanfic from Eve's point of view, set before Glass House. I love Eve. Anyone else think it's a good idea? Get back at me with a review! :)


	20. Chapter 20

"Oh god, oh god." I kept saying. I felt my back hit a wall and slid down to the floor. I was crying.

How could I kill Jason? My mind blocked out everything and I sat there, feeling my mind curl in on its self again.

"Stop crying." Came Jason's voice from somewhere outside my little bubble of depression. I felt like he was talking through a tube. "I'm fine. I just passed out for a minute."

"Jason!" I shouted. I tried to jump up to him, but suddenly I was feeling woosy.

"Just sit down for a bit. Your body is probably changing." Richard said soothingly. "I really have no idea what happens, but I know it can't be easy on you."

Richard sat down beside me. I tried to push him away, but I was too weak to. "It's okay. You didn't kill him." Richard said, his voice low and gentle.

"Almost did. Probably would have." I said, my body shaking. "I can't lose someone else. I can't."

"You won't." He assured me.

"I just want to sleep." I said, and rested my head on his shoulder. And I did sleep. For a long time.

When I awoke, my body felt regenerated. I stood up, a little to quickly. The room spun. They must have turned the lights on, because I could see everything finally. The room was small. There was two little beds in it. Nothing else. Not even a bed frame for the mattresses, or any blankets or sheets.

Richard sat beside where I stood,his eyes were open and they followed me as I stood. Jason sat on one of the beds, glaring at Richard and I.

"When did the turn the lights on?" I asked.

"They didn't." Jason said, his voice lacking all emotion.

"You don't have to shout." I said, my ears ringing.

"I didn't." He said, but he had lowered his voice.

"You boys ready for dinner?" Came Kat's voice from the other side of the door. She sounded flirty.

"I'm not a fan-banger!" Jason yelled angrily. He realized what he said and turned towards me.

Great. So now that I've... become a vampire? Is that what happened? I didn't feel like a vampire. But the way Jason had looked at me, I knew that's what I was considered now. And he would never want me again. Not that I was positive he had had actually really wanted me in the first place. By the point I decided that the only reason he even kissed me was because he had been in a bad place, emotionally. It had nothing to do with liking me as much as it did him just being vulnerable.

"I didn't-"

"Jackass." Richard muttered under his breath as Kat walked into the room. She wore a really short skirt, and a really low cut top. Both Jason and Richard checked her out. She walked over to Richard and put her hand on his cheek.

"Hungry, handsome?" She asked. He blinked. She put a tray of food in front of him, then walked over to Jason.

After putting a plate in front of Jason, she put a finger under his chin and turned his head sideways. "What about you?" She said sweetly. Jason cringed. She pressed her glossed lips lightly to his neck.

Just like in the car, something inside me snapped. I lunged at her. This time I actually knocked her over. I landed on top of her, my legs straddling her body. I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the floor. Once, twice, three times before she finally passed out.

I stood up, shaking again. I knew for sure she wasn't dead, but she was unconscious for a moment, which gave us time to escape.

"Be careful." I whispered. "Bishop's still here. He might have heard the commotion. I should go first."

Slowly I slipped out of the room, being as quiet as possible, which was apparently pretty quiet. I couldn't even hear my own footsteps. When I couldn't see anyone, I motioned for Jason and Richard to exit the room. Quickly, I shooed them out the door.

I was following them through the trees towards town when I heard someone behind us. I slowed, but Richard didn't notice. He kept running. Jason slowed, coming to a complete stop to turn and look at me. I put a finger to my lips. It was night time, but I could still see perfectly.

Someone ran behind us, but they weren't being quiet. The footsteps ran right past Jason and I. When they were far enough gone, I slowly moved towards Jason. I grabbed his hand and together we ran back into the main part of Morganville.

TPU was the first place we got to. It was closest to Bishop's hide out, and there was enough people there that Jason and I could blend in.

When we got there, people stared and Jason and I weirdly.

"What's wrong with us?" I asked, as another student looked Jason and I up and down.

Jason stopped and looked at me. He reached up and rubbed something off my chin. "Blood." He said quietly.

"Jason! Emma!" Someone called. We both turned, my eyes were wide, frightened. But it was Claire and Eve!

"Oh, god." I said, panting. I wasn't out of breath, but I was so filled with adrenaline that I couldn't calm down. "Bishop-back... Richard!"

"Have you seen Richard?" Jason asked, more in control of his mouth than I was.

"What's wrong?" Eve asked immediately.

"Bishop. He kidnapped Emma and Richard and I." Jason said. I was so surprised at how calm he was. "We need to see Amelie before they find us."

Claire held out her phone, not even questioning us. "There's a contact number for her on there. How is he back?"

"It's my fault." I told her and Eve. "All of it. Kat made Bishop drink my blood, even though he was dead. Because I'm half vampire, my blood brought him back."

"Not half vampire anymore." Jason said quietly.

Eve and Calire's eyes widened. "Do you mean-?"

"I... I drank Jason's blood." I said, and Eve's eyes widened even more until I thought they would pop out of her sockets.

"It was the only way we could have managed to escape." Jason said, and he gently put a hand on my arm. When he realized what he'd done, he pulled it back abruptly.

Jason dialed Amelie's number than passed the phone to me. "Why me?" I asked, scared. I grabbed the phone anyways.

"Claire, I don't have time right now. It had better be important." She said briskly.

"It's not Claire." I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "It's Emma. I have something important to tell you."

"Well, hurry up, then. I have a missing mayor to locate." She said, sounding annoyed.

"I can help with that too." I said. Then I explained to her everything that had happened, beginning with Kat bringing me to Bishop and ending with our escape.

"Thank you Emma. I think I should advise both you and Jason to stay where you are. It's not safe for the two of you to be out in public right now." She said calmly. "I'll be dealing with this, but when it's over I will need to speak to you."

"Alright." I said quietly. "Goodbye."

She hung up the phone.

"We're not supposed to leave." I told Jason. Then I turned to Claire and Eve. "Thank god you guys were here. But what _are_ you doing here? There can't be classes this late."

"Work. Claire stayed late with me so I wouldn't have to drive back alone." Eve told me. "You guys can come hang out at the back of the shop until Amelie tells us it's safe for you to leave."

We all followed Eve back into a small common room inside one of TPU's buildings. She led us behind the counter and into a small room with a bunch of blockers, and a small couch.

"It's not a palace, but it's safe enough." Eve said. "We have to get Shane and Michael, but we'll be back."

"Alright." I said as they walked away.

Jason and I both settled in on the couch. There was nothing to do but to talk, or sit there. Apparently Jason decided that doing nothing was better than talking to me.

"Do I look any different?" I finally asked, after too much uncomfortable silence.

Jason looked me up and down, and studied my face. "No. You still look like you. Still too good." He said quietly.

"Too good?" I asked, confused.

Jason hesitated, then let everything slip out. "You're so pure. It drives me crazy. You have no idea what I've done." Jason said, and stood up. "And I don't want you to know. I don't want you to look at me with those beautiful blue eyes filled with disappointment, or horror. I couldn't take that."

"Eve told me. About most of it, you know. And I don't think you're horrible." I said, and pulled him back down onto the couch. He obeyed.

"I'm scared I'm going to hurt you the way I hurt everyone else around me." He spoke so softly I could barely hear him.

"That's not true!" I told him.

"It is, most of the time. If I don't hurt them, they hurt me, so I learned to do the hurting before they can do it to you." He said, finally meeting my eyes.

"You can't think that way. You'll miss out on great things in life."

"Like what?" He asked. His eyes dropped momentarily to my lips. "Like you?"

I laughed quietly. "I'm not that easy to get rid of." I said, and pressed my lips against his.

Suddenly a bunch of people burst into the back room.

"We have to go. Now!" Eve shouted. She ran towards Jason and I and pulled us up. Claire, Shane and Michael were here as well.

"There's vampires attacking on campus." Michael said, but he was still calm. "We can all squeeze into my car."

We all hurried towards the dark tinted car. Almost everyone was inside when Jason was pulled away from me. We had been holding hands as we ran. I tried to go after him, but Michael caught my arm. He shoved me into the car, and slammed the door. He came in from the driver's side door.

The second he settled in he took off. "What about Jason?" I shouted in the small space. "We can't just leave him!"

"What?" Eve shouted. I saw her roll down her window and push her head out. "Michael, we have to go back."

"I know, but right now, you guys are my top priority." He replied. He hadn't slowed down, and I didn't think he would.

Eve and I both stared, horror struck, as someone dragged Jason into another vampire car.


	21. Chapter 21

"We can't just leave him!" I shouted, pulling on my door. It was locked. Some kind of safety on the door that only allowed the driver to open it. I still struggled against it.

"God damn it, Michael! I know you hate him but he's my _brother_! We can't just leave him!" Eve shouted while also trying to open her door. "Michael!"

"You both need to calm down." Shane said. He put a hand on Eve's, stopping her from ripping the door apart.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" I shouted. "I've lost _everything_ I care about. Do you know how that feels? Everything but Jason is gone! How would you feel if the only person left in the world who really meant something to you was currently being kidnapped by a vampire?"

Shane took a long look at Claire. There was so much love, and caring in his expression that for a second I forgot everything. That was love. It was so clear in every plane of his face. Then his expression hardened.

"Turn around, man." Shane said, looking at Michael through the mirror at the front of the car.

"You've got to be kidding me." Michael said. He ran a hand through his hair. "You too?"

"Would you leave any of us behind?" Shane asked. The answer was clear on Michael's face. "Exactly. Turn around."

And finally, thankfully, he did. The car that held Jason was almost leaving the campus now. Michael sped towards it. The closer we got, the faster the other car went. Finally, with the help of Michael's crazy driving, we were right behind the car, almost bumper to bumper.

We followed it until it finally pulled up in front of the Town Hall building.

"Why here?" I asked. I jumped out of the car without waiting for an answer, though, and bolted straight to the car with Jason in it.

"Hello, darling." Kat's voice said from the front of the car. The window was open and I could see both her and Jason sitting in the front of the car. Jason was sleeping. Or passed out, but definitely alive.

"Let him go." I said flatly. Michael, Eve, Claire and Shane joined me. I tugged on the passenger door. It opened easily. Jason slumped out of the car. He would have hit his head had Michael not grabbed him.

"Get him in the car!" Eve said frantically.

Kat laughed. "He's not going to make it. The amount of blood I took from him, he'll be dead in no time." She smiled, then hopped out of the car and dashed up the front steps into the city building so fast my eyes blurred.

"Is she right?" Eve asked. She pushed a lock of Jason's hair off his face. "Michael! Is she telling the truth?"

Michael checked out Jason. He bent down and pressed a finger to the inside of his wrist. Then he stood up and looked sadly into Eve's eyes.

"She's right. His heart beat is very slow right now. We won't even have enough time to get him to the hospital.

"No!" I shouted, pushing both Jason and Eve out of the way. "No. I won't lose him to. I won't."

And then I did something that just came naturally. I turned Jason into a vampire.

* * *

><p>AN

**Sorry it's so short, and also sorry for the big gap between updates. I've been very busy lately, and it's really late right now so I kind of just wanted to get a chapter out, next time it will be longer. :)**


End file.
